The Florida House passed a land-use bill that includes a provision nullifying an agreement Disney made with the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District board. The agreement undercut the power of the new state-appointed board.
The bill passed by a 75-34 vote in the House after passing by a 27-13 margin in the Florida Senate last week and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
DESANTIS-APPOINTED BOARD FILES COUNTERSUIT AGAINST DISNEY
The bill was amended last month to include a provision to allow "an independent special district" to be "precluded from complying" with agreements made in the three months before the modifying of laws on how the governing body selects members. It also allows the new governing body to vote on readopting the agreements within four months of taking power.
"An independent special district is precluded from complying with the terms of any development agreement, and any other agreement for which the development agreement serves in whole or part as consideration, executed within 3 months preceding the effective date of a law modifying the manner of selecting members of the governing body of the independent special district from election to appointment or from appointment to election," the bill says.
"The newly elected or appointed governing body of the independent special district shall review within 4 months of taking office any development agreement and any other agreement for which the development agreement serves in whole or part as consideration and, after such review, shall vote on whether to seek readoption of such agreement," the bill continues.
The amendment, which does not directly name the former Reedy Creek Improvement District or the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, was added to the bill shortly after DeSantis announced plans to revoke the last-minute agreement with what he called "a strong one-two punch."
DeSantis pledged to use legislative action and nullification by the board based on one of the "legal infirmities" in the agreement to achieve his goal. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board voted to nullify the agreement between Disney and the former board, which did not permit the board to make most changes without permission from the Walt Disney Company.
Shortly after the board voted to declare the agreement void, Disney sued DeSantis and the board, citing a "relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials."
The lawsuit alleges the state violated Disney's First Amendment right to free speech, the contract and takings clauses in the Constitution, and the company's 14th Amendment right to due process.
In response to the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District voted to file a countersuit against Disney in the Circuit Court of the 9th Judicial Circuit in and for Orange County.
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The board's lawsuit claims Disney has used its "influence to obtain what must have seemed like permanent exemptions from the democratic checks and balances that apply to all other Florida businesses."
The battle between DeSantis 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.