Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Sets Stage for Legislative Action Against Disney

When the new members of the board—which governs a special tax district housing the theme parks that was recently renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District—discovered what Disney had done, they said the company had undermined their authority. Board members hired outside attorneys to review the actions and explore ways to nullify them.

“Disney did basically special deals to circumvent that whole process,” Mr. DeSantis said Monday, announcing the legislative plans in Lake Buena Vista, where the board meets. “They negotiated with themselves to give themselves the ability to maintain their self-governing status,” he said, adding, “That’s not going to fly.”

Mr. DeSantis said the agreements Disney struck with the previous board are riddled with “legal infirmities that render them void.” And he said legislators would use a state law that he said gives them the authority to revoke development agreements in situations such as these.

A Disney representative noted that Florida officials reviewed Disney’s comprehensive plan for development in the district—the plan upon which the development agreement approved in February is based—in July 2022 and found that it met minimum requirements under state law. Chief Executive Robert Iger has called Florida’s actions against Disney over the past year “antibusiness.”

In March, in response to the new board’s criticism of the February development agreement, a Disney spokesperson said that “all agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law.”

The new board believes that Disney’s development agreement may have violated the law by including an unfunded budget appropriation in road improvements worth roughly $160 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Juan-Carlos Planas, a former Republican state lawmaker who has studied Reedy Creek’s legal framework, said nullifying the agreement would violate both state contract and zoning law.

“Just because you have different commissioners, you can’t breach a contract,” Mr. Planas said. “If they did cancel it…Disney could get damages from Reedy Creek that would end up bankrupting the district.”

He said revoking the prior agreements could set a dangerous precedent. “Any company that is thinking about doing any real-estate development in Florida right now should be freaked out,” Mr. Planas said.

In his remarks Monday, Mr. DeSantis also said state agencies would ensure Disney was following the same rules as other companies regarding building inspections, safety measures and other areas. The governor said he expected that the new board, which is holding its next meeting Wednesday, would scrutinize other issues related to Disney, such as other uses for the land in the district. He said with a smile that perhaps that might include a new state prison. The board also is expected to examine infrastructure, including the possibility of selling district utilities to private entities.

The district, formerly known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, had functioned like a county government with its board of supervisors effectively chosen by Disney, the district’s primary landowner. 

Mr. DeSantis and Disney began clashing last spring, when the company came out against the Parental Rights in Education bill, a measure now signed into law that barred teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity in early elementary-school grades. Mr. DeSantis and state lawmakers later approved a new setup that allowed the governor to appoint a new board that, in theory, would control any approvals Disney might need to expand its theme parks or other properties. 

Write to Arian Campo-Flores at [email protected] and Robbie Whelan at [email protected]