| | | | |  | | By Kimberly Leonard | |  A sign near an entranceway to Walt Disney World on May 22, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | Good morning and welcome to Thursday. It’s a whole new (post-lawsuit) world. The governing board for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the territory surrounding Walt Disney World, met for the first time yesterday after the entertainment company settled its lawsuit and gave up trying to retain its self-governance. The meeting was focused on the nitty gritty. It was heavy on numbers and on utilities matters — and even, as The Associated Press described it — “boring.” The municipal government expertise from the district’s new administrator, Stephanie Kopelousos, was on full display. The five-member board approved a slew of contracts for water, waste, recycling and the security network. It even approved a solar plant for Levy County that’s expected to put out enough energy to power three Magic Kingdoms and save the district money. A contractor was approved to install new boilers for Epcot, and a landscaping and irrigation contractor got the green light to fix an area near the Dolphin Resort. Millions of dollars got the go-ahead. At the start of the meeting, Kopelousos said she’d spent the last month “doing my best to get up to speed” and “drinking out of a fire hose.” In other words, gone was the Disney bashing, criticizing of wasteful past spending or contracting with outside groups to analyze all the ways Disney failed to live up to its promises. There were no tears from workers worried about losing their Walt Disney World perks. A public comment period was offered, but no one got up to speak. “Back to the people’s business, I love it,” Charbel Barakat, the board’s acting chairperson, said during the meeting. What used to be must-watch television has turned into a run-of-the-mill municipal meeting. It was clear the legal battle was over and that everyone would work together, even though the board still has DeSantis allies on it — and Kopelousos herself is deeply loyal to the governor. With the Most Magical Place on Earth about to change dramatically, the brawls seem to be left in the past. Disney announced earlier this month that it’ll be doing a 14-acre expansion of the Magic Kingdom, a move happening as Universal Orlando Resort prepares to unveil its own massive expansion next year. The job of the board for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District will be to make decisions about basic services like zoning, development, power and security support. Gov. Ron DeSantis has openly encouraged the business growth. And from what Playbook has reported, Kopelousos — who’s known for affectionately calling people “muffin” — is widely viewed as one of the best people in the state to lead the district as the Disney park has its biggest expansion in decades. “The mouse meets the muffin,” DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier wrote on social media the day the board approved Kopelousos as administrator. “It’s a new day.” Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com.
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | |  | ... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ... | | |  Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. | Eva Marie Uzcategui/ AFP via Getty Images | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Attorney General Ashley Moody is asking a court to force the Atlantic Coast Conference to turn over media rights contracts that are at the center of an ongoing legal dispute between the ACC and Florida State University. Moody on Thursday filed a lawsuit in circuit court in Leon County demanding that the conference turn over records that her office first asked for back in January after FSU was snubbed from the college football playoff. The lawsuit maintains that the records — which involve the ACC’s media contracts with ESPN — are required to be made public under Florida law. Currently, the ACC will only allow schools to inspect the records in person in North Carolina and will not allow anyone to copy them. FSU has sued the ACC over the media rights deal and fees that would be charged to the school for leaving the conference. The ACC, meanwhile, has sued FSU in North Carolina where the conference is headquartered. “The ACC is asking a state entity — Florida State University — to potentially pay and lose more than a half a billion dollars but is refusing to produce the documents related to that outrageous price tag,” Moody said in a statement first shared with POLITICO. “We sent a public records request to the ACC in January, but they failed to fully comply. We are taking legal action against the ACC for wrongfully withholding these important public records.” Back in January the general counsel for the ACC told Moody that the contracts between ESPN and the ACC were not public records and “contain commercially sensitive and proprietary information which, if publicly disclosed, would irreparably harm the Conference's and ESPN's ability to negotiate future rights agreements.” Pearlynn Houck also maintained the contracts contained trade secrets that allow them to remain confidential under Florida law. In 2009 Florida courts ruled that the NCAA had to turn over records connected to an investigation into academic misconduct at FSU. The NCAA had maintained that it was allowed to keep the records confidential. The organization would only allow FSU lawyers to look at the records via a secure internet website. This may be just the first skirmish between Moody and the ACC. In a letter she sent last week to attorneys general in six other states, Moody said Florida was also considering joining FSU’s appeal of a ruling in the North Carolina case. The judge in that case ruled that FSU had waived its sovereign immunity rights and could be sued in that state because FSU was a member of the ACC. — Gary Fineout MIAMI HEARING — “Appeals court judges question how FPL can be charged for damages for lost power during Hurricane Irma,” by POLITICO’s Bruce Ritchie. “A lawyer representing Florida Power & Light Co. told a state appeals court Wednesday that it was impossible to calculate monetary damages against a utility for loss of electricity caused by a storm. Stuart H. Singer, representing FPL, also told the three-judge panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal that a 2023 state law change supported by the utility should send the case to the Public Service Commission for review. He said it would be impossible to determine how much the utility should pay — or if it should pay at all — for any of the utility's 4.5 million customer accounts that lost power. ... The judges gave no indication when they would rule, nor did their questioning signal which way they were leaning.” ENVIRONMENT WEEK — “Gov. DeSantis expands program to help Floridians harden homes against hurricanes,” reports John Kennedy of USA Today Network — Florida. “Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday capped three days of environmental events beginning on Earth Day by signing legislation that puts $200 million into a program to help Floridians protect their homes against tropical storms and hurricanes. The My Safe Florida Home program provides up to $10,000 in state grants to match whatever homeowners are paying to harden their homes against storms, with low-income residents eligible for state help even without matching dollars.” …. The program will now focus on older adults and people making less than $70,800, per the Tampa Bay Times. HIGH-COST LIVING — “Florida homeowners insurance is skyrocketing: Here’s what to know,” by the Palm Beach Post’s Kate Cimini. “Customers are searching for ways to deal with the costs. Some are cutting back on parts of their policies, while others are dropping insurance entirely, or ‘going bare.’ In a drastic move, others are even leaving the state for cheaper, less disaster-prone areas.” ALREADY? — “Hurricane center watching blip in Atlantic. No threat but hints at busy season ahead,” reports the Miami Herald’s Alex Harris. “Research suggests that the season could be seeing an earlier start due to climate change, which is helping warm the Atlantic Ocean and making it a friendlier place for storms to form earlier than normal.” — “Florida adds restrictions to dairy cows to prevent bird flu,” reports Ana Goñi-Lessan of USA Today Network — Florida. HISTORY DIVE — “DeSantis said public schools were religious when US began. Is he right?” by the Tampa Bay Times’ Jeffrey S. Solochek. “The founders did not establish a public education system, which really didn’t get started for another 50 or so years. And when public schools began, they did not employ chaplains.” FLORIDA-BASED — “Spirit Airlines shows improvements, but still finishes last in travel industry customer satisfaction study,” by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s David Lyons. “For the survey, travelers graded the airlines on multiple service metrics, including baggage handling, boarding process, call centers, cleanliness of airplane cabins and lavatories, food quality (both paid and complimentary), loyalty programs, mobile apps, overhead storage, seat comfort and staff performances at airport gates and ticket counters.”
| | PENINSULA AND BEYOND | | CLOSED BORDERS — “Why are so few Haitian refugees arriving by boat in Florida? DeSantis has a theory — and claims credit,” reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man. “The reason, DeSantis said, is people who might want to leave Haiti don’t try because they know if they’re found on the open water they’ll be sent back. DeSantis took a measure of credit for that policy and what he said is the result as he pointed to the interdiction last week of a boat off the South Florida coast. It’s the Biden administration, which DeSantis criticized later in the same answer, that has maintained the U.S. government policy of returning people interdicted on the open water to the country where they originated.” — “Chief of FDLE Miami office retired after probe found he sent thousands of sexually suggestive texts,” by Francisco Alvarado of the Florida Bulldog.
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | NEXT WEEK — Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign in Jacksonville on May 1, the same day Florida’s six-week abortion ban takes effect. The campaign stop, per the advisory to reporters, will focus on ‘the harms inflicted by state abortion bans and continue to make the case that 'Donald Trump did this.’” LAST NIGHT — “‘I’m withdrawing my name’: Filmmaker Billy Corben leaves race for Miami-Dade Dems chair,” by the Miami Herald’s Max Greenwood. “A forum last night “which was held via video conference and closed to both the public and the press, pit Corben against three other hopefuls: state Sen. Shevrin Jones, Biscayne Gardens Chamber of Commerce President Bernard Jennings and Miami-Dade College Democrats President Manuel Fernandez. Throughout the forum, Corben and the others put forth their visions for how best to rehabilitate the Miami-Dade Democratic Party after its former chairman Robert Dempster was removed by Florida Democratic leaders late last month. After debating for nearly an hour, Corben said in his closing remarks that he was no longer interested in running in a race that was stacked against him.” GETTING CLOSER — “Luther Campbell vs. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick: Rap star-turned-civic activist creates campaign committee,” reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man. “Luther Campbell, the rap artist, coach and civic activist, has filed paperwork setting up a campaign to challenge Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in the Democratic primary.” CALIFORNIA ALSO-RAN — “Jennifer Barbosa files to challenge Laurel Lee in CD 15,” by Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles. “Now a Plant City resident, Barbosa appears to be the latest Republican to answer a call from former President Donald Trump for an ‘America First’ candidate in Florida’s 15th Congressional District.” CARPETBAGGING — “Several candidates for Miami-Dade sheriff live in Broward. Is that okay?” by WLRN’s Daniel Rivero. “While state law does not forbid a sheriff candidate from residing in another county, the revelation that several contenders for Miami-Dade sheriff have not lived in the county for years potentially throws a curve ball into the contested sheriff race. Seventeen candidates are running for the position.” … Trump’s favorite is Republican Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz, an assistant director for the Miami-Dade Police Department, he said on Truth Social, per the Miami Herald.
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NEW RULES — “Title IX protections now extend to gender identity and sexuality. Here’s what it means in Florida,” by WLRN’s Danielle Prieur. “These changes have wide-ranging implications for LGBTQ kids in Florida’s K-12 schools. Under the new protections, discrimination against LGBTQ or transgender students in Florida’s public schools is now prohibited.”
— “Marco Rubio says China ‘on the clock’ after TikTok divestiture order,” by Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski.
| | TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP | | |  Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump embraces Rep. Byron Donalds, (R-Fla.), left, after speaking at the Black Conservative Federation's Annual BCF Honors Gala at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in Columbia, South Carolina, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. | Andrew Harnik/AP | VP APPRENTICE — “Trump campaign will host Florida donor retreat with potential VP picks,” reports POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt and Natalie Allison. “A copy of the invitation obtained by POLITICO lists 16 special guests for the May 3-5 event in Palm Beach. Among them are some of the top names being mentioned for Trump’s general election ticket: Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida … and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).” FLORIDA SUMMIT — “Trump meets with foreign leaders looking to boost their relationships with GOP leader ahead of election,” by CNN’s Alayna Treene and Steve Contorno. “In recent weeks, Trump, seizing the role of both an erstwhile diplomat and ascending opposition party leader, has extended welcomes to a series of foreign leaders at his homes in Florida and New York. He … hosted British Foreign Secretary David Cameron at his Mar-a-Lago club the week before and has spoken by phone with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently, among other high-profile meetings.” | | ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN | | — “Man setting himself on fire is shocking. But that Floridians believe conspiracies is unsurprising,” by Antonio Fins of the Palm Beach Post. BIRTHDAYS: David Richardson, former Miami Beach City Commissioner and former state representative … former Rep. Larry Smith. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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