Florida Republicans Double Down On Disney Attack After Company Sues DeSantis

Topline

The Florida Senate passed legislation late Wednesday that would get rid of a development agreement between Walt Disney World and its special district signed before the district’s board was replaced with government appointees, further escalating Florida Republicans’ feud with Disney despite the company filing a lawsuit over those attacks hours earlier.

The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in 2019.

Key Facts

The Senate passed SB 1604 Wednesday in a 27-13 vote, which would nullify Disney’s development agreement by prohibiting such agreements if they’re enacted within three months of laws that modify how special district board members are elected.

The bill, which was amended to specifically address the Disney agreement, would also give boards four months to review development agreements after taking office and decide if they should be adopted.

Disney and the former board of the Reedy Creek Improvement District that oversees Walt Disney World—whose members were elected by Disney—enacted a development agreement that gives Disney broad authority over the district, empowering it to build on the land without the special district’s approval and have sole approval of buildings within the district even if they’re not Disney-owned.

The agreement was passed just before Florida lawmakers overhauled the laws governing Reedy Creek so that the board would now be appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and the DeSantis-appointed board members discovered the development agreement soon after taking office, expressing outrage that it rendered them essentially powerless.

DeSantis’ board members voted Wednesday to revoke the agreement, prompting Disney to file a lawsuit in federal court against the governor and the special district board members minutes later.

The lawsuit argues the state’s attacks on Disney—which began because the company opposed the state’s law known as “Don’t Say Gay”—violate its First Amendment rights, calling the board’s vote the “last strike” in the state’s war against the company.

What To Watch For

The bill will now go to the Florida House, which is also controlled by Republicans and is likely to pass it. If it becomes law, the legislation would throw a further wrinkle into Disney’s lawsuit, which already alleges that the board’s attempt to revoke the development agreement violates the U.S. Constitution’s Contract Clause, which states that “[n]o State shall … pass any … Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts.” Disney’s lawsuit asks for the court to overturn the board’s decision to revoke the development agreement, leaving the agreement in place, and also asks the court to overturn laws that overhauled Disney’s special district, returning the district to how it was before Republicans’ attacks.

Chief Critic

Democrats in the Florida Senate argued before the bill passed that it should be “paused” as a result of the pending lawsuit. “We keep passing laws, even though we’re in the middle of lawsuits, on top of lawsuit on top of lawsuit,” state Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) said, according to CBS News, while state Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Hollywood) said Republicans attacking Disney “just isn’t the right way to govern.”

Surprising Fact

Only one Republican senator voted against the bill, state Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), who Politico notes is a supporter of former President Donald Trump, who’s openly attacked DeSantis and his war with Disney. “People’s pocketbooks are more powerful at influencing corporate behavior than the heavy hand of government,” Gruter said, as quoted by Politico.

Key Background

The special district that oversees Walt Disney World—originally named Reedy Creek Improvement District and now renamed to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District—functions essentially as a local government for Disney’s Florida property, taking care of maintaining infrastructure like roads and waste collection, emergency fire services, construction permits and other duties. The district is separate from Disney, but as its major landowner, the company had previously been able to essentially handpick its board, as well as other residents who live on the property and have voting powers. DeSantis’ attacks on Disney began after the company spoke out against the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill, known by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” and the state first moved to dissolve Reedy Creek entirely before shifting gears to just overhaul its board after the plan to get rid of the special district raised tax concerns. The discovery of the development agreement further escalated the governor’s attacks on Disney, and DeSantis and the board have floated further steps against it like imposing road tolls on Disney property, raising Disney’s taxes and even building a state prison on land in the special district that Disney doesn’t own. Lawmakers have also introduced legislation that would subject Disney’s monorails to state inspections, and the board moved Wednesday to outlaw any Covid-19 restrictions like mask mandates.