DeSantis likely faces uphill legal battle with Disney
Jack Birle
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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has vowed that the fight for control over the district encompassing the Walt Disney World Resort is far from over, but legal challenges to the agreement Disney made with the previous government controlling the district are expected to force the Republican governor into an uphill battle.
DeSantis’s office has said all options are on the table for their fight, but a legal ruling invaliding the agreement that currently gives Disney near-total control of the district would be the easiest resolution for the governor’s headache.
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The problem with a legal challenge is that because the agreement appears to have been made in proper order under the previous government of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, it is unknown if the DeSantis administration’s challenge to the agreement will prevail in the courts. The DeSantis-appointed board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has said it has hired four outside law firms to void the agreement made under the previous board.
Orlando-based Attorney Jake Schumer told the Tampa Bay Times it would take a significant change in the understanding of local governance for Disney to have its agreement struck down in a legal challenge.
A challenge “would take a change in how we understand local government law in order for Disney to lose because it really follows that local government development act very closely,” Schumer told the outlet.
DeSantis has ordered the state’s chief inspector general to investigate the former Reedy Creek Improvement District board, saying the investigation will look for “any legal or ethical violations” by the board in relation to its conduct before the state takeover of the district.
The investigation will focus on the district’s “adherence to applicable Florida civil and criminal laws and ethics requirements,” the qualifications of the board members, the “involvement of Walt Disney World employees and agents” in the actions of the district, and “any financial gain or benefit derived by Walt Disney World” as result of the work of the district, per a letter from the governor.
The investigation will also examine all Reedy Creek Improvement District “board, employee, or agent communications” related to the bill. The bill restructured the district into the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
The agreement was signed on Feb. 8, the same day the Florida House passed the law restructuring the district. The accord restricts the board from making most changes without permission from the Walt Disney Company.
The highly discussed “King Charles clause” in the agreement ensures Disney has autonomy over the district, which includes the Walt Disney World Resort, until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, King of England, living as of the date of this declaration.”
“The agreements the prior RCID board attempted to shove through at the 11th hour are likely invalid, and all legislative options are back on the table,” DeSantis’s office said.
Disney has defended its actions with the Reedy Creek Improvement District, asserting that all agreements made with the former district were done lawfully.
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“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,” Disney said in a statement last week to the Washington Examiner.
The battle between the governor and the company, which led to Disney’s Central Florida district being restructured, stemmed from Disney denouncing DeSantis’s push for the Parental Rights in Education Act last year. Disney had maintained full autonomy over the district since its creation in 1967.