“I Have News for the Woke Administration at Disney.” DeSantis Outlines a Plan of Attack Against Disney’s Reedy Creek Agreements

Governor Ron DeSantis has outlined the next steps in the battle against Disney, and there’s a lot to take in.

In case you need a bit of a summary to get caught up, Disney entered into some agreements with the old Board of Supervisors of the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District). These gave Disney a large amount of control within the District despite the new Board later coming into power. The new Board later discovered these agreements and DeSantis threatened to take action against Disney to combat the effect of those agreements. Now we have a HUGE update as to what DeSantis and the new Board plan to do.

On April 17th, 2023, DeSantis held a press conference about the District and these legal matters. A livestream of the event was provided by ClickOrlando. At the start of the conference, DeSantis discussed how the law is superior to “big corporations, even corporations as big and powerful as Walt Disney Company.”

He talked about how a company governing its own property was something they wanted to put an end to in Florida, hence the installation of a Governor-appointed, state-controlled Board within the District. He also discussed Disney paying their own fair share of taxes, debts, etc.

Then DeSantis turned to the agreements Disney made with the old Board, calling them a “legal fiction” and something done in “defiance” of the people of Florida. DeSantis said, “That’s not gonna work. That’s not gonna fly,” and then began to outline his plan of attack against Disney’s agreements.

Keep in mind that throughout this time Disney has defended its agreements as being legal and properly noticed.

Board to Declare Agreements Invalid

One thing DeSantis said he anticipates is that the current/new Board of Supervisors for the District will take action during their next meeting to declare the agreements entered into by Disney and the old Board as invalid and not binding on the new Board.

DeSantis claimed that Disney’s agreements have various “legal infirmities” in them that would render them void. He later specified that some of these infirmities had to do with notice, self-dealing, and consideration. He expects there will be a legal briefing at the Board’s next meeting (which takes place on Wednesday, April 19th) and that the Board will find the agreements invalid.

New Bill

DeSantis acknowledged that this action by the Board could open them up to litigation, so another plan is in the works to make sure Disney’s agreements with the prior Board are revoked — specifically a bill would be introduced in the Florida legislature to revoke the development agreement Disney entered into with the prior board.

DeSantis said that Chapter 163 Section 3241 of the Florida statutes is what would empower the legislature to revoke Disney’s agreement.

That section is called “Modification or revocation of a development agreement to comply with subsequently enacted state and federal law. It says: “If state or federal laws are enacted after the execution of a development agreement which are applicable to and preclude the parties’ compliance with the terms of a development agreement, such agreement shall be modified or revoked as is necessary to comply with the relevant state or federal laws.”

DeSantis said that he has worked with state leaders and there will be a bill introduced to make sure the agreements are “revoked,” and that the people’s will is “established” and “upheld.”

DeSantis also commented on how things were different when Reedy Creek was first established years ago, and he argued that there are competitors in Florida now that are treated differently. He said he wants to “make sure that Disney lives under the same laws as everybody else.”

DeSantis indicated that updates about the bill will be shared within the next week or so as they continue “fighting back” against Disney.

Florida Representative Fred Hawkins (Florida House of Representatives) said that Disney reportedly made these deals with the old Board in the “middle of the night,” though others have pointed out that the agreements were viewable online and publically noticed prior to their passage at a public meeting.

Still, Hawkins insisted “Disney acted in only their favor, and not of the people. The legislature is appalled by this action.” According to Hawkins, updates will be shared soon about this bill heading to the Florida legislature.

Another individual who spoke at the conference was Blaise Ingoglia, who serves in the Florida Senate. He spoke directly to Disney at one point saying “You are not going to win this fight, this Governor will.” He also said he had some advice for Disney — using Frozen as an inspiration, he told Disney to “let it go.”

But that’s not all DeSantis and his team askdiscussed.

Other Actions By the Board

DeSantis said that he expects the new Board of Supervisors for the District will address a number of matters during their upcoming meeting on April 19th and in the future. Some of those are expected to include:

• Examining whether it could be beneficial to sell some of the District’s utilities to a private entity
• Look at potential pay increases for the first responders in the District
• Change COVID-19 rules within the District so that essentially no business within the District (which presumably would include Disney) can require its patrons to wear masks (this is something a new Board member had previously brought up)

• Adjusting things to make clear there is a zero-tolerance policy for human trafficking within the District
• Look at the valuation of the District’s (and specifically Disney’s) property for purposes of tax assessments (Deadline reports that a person familiar with this matter has indicated that Disney does not assess its own property, contrary to what DeSantis indicated. Instead, they said that this assessment is done by tax assessors in Orange and Osceola counties. We reported back in 2021 about a situation where Disney sued the Orange County Property Appraiser based on their assessment of the fair market values of the property within Disney World.)
• Consider steps to accelerate the payment of the District’s outstanding debt (about $1 billion)
• See how the Board can play a role in ensuring more workforce housing (Disney has already announced an affordable housing project)

Examine the Land the District Owns, State Inspections, and More

And there’s more. When it comes to land within the District, the majority is owned by Disney, but there is some that appears to be owned by the District itself. DeSantis said that this land is now being analyzed to see how it can best be used (even though this really wasn’t a focus when the initial changes to Reedy Creek were being made).

DeSantis said people have made suggestions about what that land may be used for — saying “Maybe create a state park, maybe try to do more amusement parks…maybe you need another state prison.” He indicated that they are looking at utilizing the land in some way.

When it comes to theme park inspections, Disney and other large theme parks in Florida fall under a special exemption. As the Orlando Business Journal points out, “current Florida law says ‘permanent facilities that employ at least 1,000 full-time employees and that maintain full-time, in-house safety inspectors’ were exempt from state inspections.” DeSantis has indicated they are looking at ending this exemption for Disney.

That would mean that more things at Disney would be subject to inspection by the state. DeSantis specifically talked about the monorail and making sure that is subject to oversight.

Commissioner Wilton Simpson, Commissioner of Agriculture (which also oversees some consumer protection matters), spoke during the conference and said “where a person is injured should not determine how the state responds. Everyone should have to play by the same rules.”

Simpson seemed to indicate that this change would allow his department “to conduct inspections when someone is seriously injured on an amusement ride” and determine “whether a ride can safely reopen.”

Interestingly, however, DeSantis indicated that (to his understanding) the legislature would carry out this change by passing a bill that would only impact larger theme parks in special districts. That would single Disney out, which means that other large theme parks like Universal and SeaWorld would still be exempt from state inspection regulations.

When it comes to Disney having a “woke agenda,” Representative Carolina Amesty (Florida House of Representatives) spoke during the conference and said that within the state of Florida, it is “we the people, not woke corporations.”

She continued, “We all love Disney, however, you cannot indoctrinate our children.” She discussed how, in her view, Disney has been focused on indoctrinating kids on radical gender ideologies and that Disney has reportedly felt that the rules don’t apply to them.

Amesty said, “I have news for the woke administration at Disney…this is not California, this is the free state of Florida…you do not get to indoctrinate our kids or write your own rules.”

This all seemed to be more in line with arguments individuals have made about the entire Reedy Creek situation and how it is merely retribution against Disney for its statements against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act.

In terms of other actions, DeSantis mentioned how there is an investigation going on by the inspector general and if any kind of criminal fraud is discovered, that will be pursued.

In terms of tolling roads to Disney, DeSantis seems to have “walked back on the idea” (as the Orlando Business Journal puts it). He alluded to the idea that the Florida legislature didn’t really want to impose more taxes but instead wanted to make sure the District had all the powers it needed to pay off its debt.

That’s it for now, but things are only just beginning. The District’s Board will have its next meeting on April 19th, which could give us some significant updates. And we’ll be on the lookout for more news about the bill set to be introduced in the Florida legislature about Disney’s Reedy Creek agreements.

In the meantime, click here to see what Iger has had to say about the drama with Governor DeSantis. And check back for updates.

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