Charlie Crist calls Reedy Creek dissolution ‘probably unconstitutional’

Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist said he believes the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ approval of legislation to strike Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District is “probably unconstitutional.”

What spurred the legislation is The Walt Disney Co.’s vocal opposition to HB 1557, which bans the teaching of sexual orientation or gender identity from K-3rd grade and opens the door for further limits at other grade levels. DeSantis said he was irked by a Disney statement while signing the bill that dissolves the district in 2023 last week.

While signing the bill, DeSantis said Disney’s statement against HB 1557 was a move from an out-of-state corporation to “marshal your economic might to attack the parents of my state.”

“We view that as a provocation,” he said during Wednesday’s virtual news conference. “And we’re going to fight back against that.”

Crist, who has previously opposed the Republican-driven Reedy Creek dissolution, said the legislation attacked one of the state’s most revered institutions and largest employers for engaging in free speech.

“The fact that our Governor and our legislature are trying to pick on them for expressing free speech is astonishing,” Crist said. “I think it’s probably unconstitutional, frankly. And I think it’s awful.”

He also cited recent reports that the taxpayers of Orange and Osceola counties could feel the dissolution most.

“I think it’s going to be about a $2 billion hit. I’ve seen reports in the news that the average per homeowner in both Orange and Osceola County could be a $2,200 a year increase,” Crist said. “I thought Republicans are supposed to be against tax increases, and this will probably be the largest single tax increase on the citizens who live in both orange and Osceola County.”

Crist said the focus from DeSantis on issues like the improvement district and issues like textbook bans is coming from his 2024 Presidential aspirations and not from a place of good governance.

“You need to be focused on Florida if you’re the Governor of the Sunshine State. And he is clearly, as I like to say, often more focused on Iowa voters than he is Florida people and Florida children in school,” Crist said.