WATCH: Florida Democrats Meltdown On House Floor As Republicans Pass New Congressional Map | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Ryan Saavedra.

    Florida Democrats reportedly erupted Thursday on the House floor as they were powerless to stop the Republican-led body from passing a new congressional map that is expected to yield favorable results for the GOP.

    There are currently 16 Republicans and 11 Democrats representing Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives and the new map, which also adds an additional district, increases Republicans' dominance in the state to what will likely amount to a 20-8 margin over the Democrats.

    The new map effectively targets seats held by Rep. Al Lawson (D-FL), Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL), Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), and potentially Rep. Val Demings (D-FL).

    The Democrats disrupted debate over the congressional map prior to the vote by staging a sit-in on the floor to protest measure.

   

Here is video of screaming/yelling as Florida House lawmakers passed: - New congressional map- Stripping Disney of its special powers- Nixing Disney of its Big Tech exemptionThe bills move to the Governor DeSantis now. pic.twitter.com/jRNcHP1P6x

— Lydia Nusbaum (@LydiaNusbaum) April 21, 2022

    Congressional experts noted that if DeSantis' map is successfully implemented, it would entirely wipe out all the redistricting wins that Democrats have secured thus far for the upcoming midterm elections.

    "If this 20R-8D FL map passes and withstands court challenges, it could net Republicans four additional seats, entirely wiping out Dems' national redistricting gains thus far," Dave Wasserman, who analyzes House races as a senior editor at The Cook Political Report, tweeted.

    "It is appalling, but not surprising, that the Republican Legislature has abdicated its constitutional duty to draft and pass congressional maps to the governor," Manny Diaz, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, whined in a statement. "As proven by the proposed map released today, Gov. DeSantis is hell-bent on eliminating congressional seats where Florida's minority communities have the ability to elect representatives of their choice and he is imposing his own partisan political preferences on Florida's congressional map."

    The House also voted on Thursday to eliminate a special taxing district that allowed Walt Disney Co. to govern the land where its theme park is located.

    The bill passed in a 70-38 vote and is now being sent to Governor Ron DeSantis' (R) office to be signed into law after Florida's Senate approved the measure yesterday.

    The special district, known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, exempts Disney from numerous regulations and taxes and fees which reportedly saves the company tens of millions of dollars per year.

    Disney's ability to govern the area was created when the Reedy Creek Improvement Act was signed into law in May 1967. The local government did not have the resources needed to help bring Disney's 25,000 acre plan to fruition so the Reedy Creek Improvement District was established to give Disney the same authority as a county-level government.

    House Speaker Chris Sprowls noted that the decision to push the legislation came in response to Disney opposing the "Parental Rights in Education" bill.

    "They used their platform to perpetuate what we believe to be a lie, which is that the bill did one thing that it really didn't do at all," Sprowls said. "I think the governor's anger was well placed."

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