A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit, filed last week by William Sanchez, a Miami lawyer and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, against Gov. Ron DeSantis over the dissolution of Disney World’s Reedy Creek Improvement District.
The suit was on behalf of three residents of Orange and Osceola counties and claimed Florida was violating a state law called the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, as well as a contractual obligation with Reedy Creek’s bondholders and Disney’s First Amendment rights.
In their complaint, the residents had argued that they, and other taxpayers would be “burdened with at least $1 billion in Disney’s bond debt” if the state goes through with its plan to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement district.
The judge stated that the suit was dismissed because the law doesn’t actually go into effect until July of 2023 and the federal court doesn’t have jurisdiction over state issues.
Judge Altonaga also said that the plaintiffs “do not plausibly allege they have suffered any concrete injury as a result of the alleged violation of Disney’s First Amendment rights.”
William Sanchez said that he will be refiling a lawsuit on this matter by next Monday.