TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Minutes after returning to the floor after an unprecedented sit-in protest from Black Democratic lawmakers, the Florida House voted in quick succession to approve Gov. Ron DeSantis’ congressional maps, dissolve Walt Disney World’s Reedy Creek special district and remove a carve-out created last year for Disney in the “Big Tech” law.
The Black lawmakers had staged a sit-in on the floor of the Florida House chamber Thursday, disrupting debate on a congressional redistricting plan by DeSantis that would cut Black representation in half.
A little over an hour after the protests began and the House chamber was cleared, Speaker Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican, and the rest of the members returned to the floor, suspended any further debate and voted out the bills over loud chants from Democrats still sitting on the carpet in front of the dais.
