Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has initiated an investigation into Disney’s eleventh-hour deal with its old governing district board, an arrangement that he says was an attempt to circumvent the new state-appointed board’s upcoming control.
DeSantis, on April 3, “formally” requested that his office’s chief inspector general, Melinda Miguel, open an investigation into the Reedy Creek Improvement District’s Board of Supervisors.
In a letter to Miguel, DeSantis asked that “a thorough review and investigation” look at a number of matters.
They include the district’s adherence to state laws and ethics requirements, the prior board’s qualifications and the legal validity of its actions, the involvement of Disney World’s “employees and agents” in the execution of those actions, any financial gain or benefit by Disney World from the board’s actions, and the district’s justification of that advantage.
He also asked that the investigation include all district communications related to the actions—including those with Disney—and all district communications related to the bill instituting the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District replacing the Reedy Creek government.
DeSantis signed that bill, House Bill 9-B, on Feb. 27, 2023. Disney signed the deal with the old entity three weeks before that, according to a lawyer representing the new board.
“Any legal or ethical violations should be referred to the proper authorities,” DeSantis wrote to Miguel.
He charges in the letter that the board and Disney’s “collusive and self-dealing arrangements” were “designed to usurp the authority of the CFTOD board” and “nullify the recently passed legislation.”
Disney disputes that.
Last week, the Walt Disney World Resort told The Epoch Times in an email, “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.”
That Disney’s actions—a transfer of most of the old board’s authority to Disney just before the new board took over, including 30-year control over all development rights—can be remedied by the legislature any time soon is doubtful.
Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Republican, said her chamber would examine the matter but also said, “We’ve got a lot on our plate for the rest of this session, so I don’t anticipate doing anything in the near term.”
The legislature’s annual session ends on May 5.
Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, a Republican, echoed her uncertainty about legislative action.
“But I’m fully supportive of the governor taking action,” Renner told reporters on March 31.
“I think they acted in bad faith; I think that’s pretty simple.”
The state moved last year to remove Disney’s unique self-governing status, embodied in the Reedy Creek board.
The state claims that Disney enjoyed privileges no other business in Florida did for more than half a century, including tax exemptions, taxing authority for the district, the right to issue tax-exempt bonds, and the right to operate its own utility and emergency services.
The push to take over the Disney district began in March 2022 after Disney came out against Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” by its opponents.
The legislation bans classroom instruction about gender identity, sexual orientation, or age or developmentally inappropriate topics for children in kindergarten through third grade.
DeSantis later said the company’s statement was “only a mild annoyance.” He said the company had a movement within it “that said it’s their job or it’s their goal to inject a lot of this sexuality into the programming for young kids.”
He said Disney should face the same regulation that Universal Studios and Sea World do.
