by Andrew Powell
Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the Florida Legislature to enact new legislation to ensure that Walt Disney World loses its self-governing status.
DeSantis held a news conference in Lake Buena Vista on Monday to give an update on the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is home to Disney World.
“We have a government of laws and not a government of men, and that includes the law being superior to big corporations, even corporations as big and powerful as Walt Disney Company. They are not superior to the laws that are enacted by the people of the State of Florida.” DeSantis said.
In late 2022, a special session was called to address the issues surrounding the unraveling of the Reedy Creek Improvement District — a special privilege that had given Disney autonomy over hundreds of acres of land located in central Florida since the 1960s, including its own police and fire departments.
DeSantis said the idea that one corporation like Disney could have its own government is not something that is in the best interests of the people of Florida.
“My mantra was, you’re not gonna have Disney have its own government in central Florida, they’re gonna live under the same laws as everybody else, pay their fair share of taxes, and honor the debts that they’ve accumulated over these years.” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also said the Legislature needed a plan to begin this process and it was met with challenges, like not passing on tax hikes to locals to cover Disney’s debts.
“We felt it was better to put a state control board over this district, be able to ensure accountability, all the things that I outlined…make sure that the debts were being paid by the corporation that racked them up,” DeSantis said, adding that the state control board has now been formed and control of this district is now in the hands of the state.
DeSantis noted that while the state control board was being put together, which was made up of five members handpicked by the governor — Disney was attempting to circumvent the whole process.
Disney had previously controlled the district board and they were essentially voting for themselves to keep their status as a self-governing district, according to DeSantis.
DeSantis added that Disney didn’t care about any new measures and attempted to get into development agreements, hoping that it would void new laws and put them back into control in perpetuity.
“That’s not gonna work, that’s not gonna fly. Now the agreements themselves have a plethora of legal infirmities that render them void, anyway.” DeSantis said, adding that the state control board meets on Wednesday, and he expects them to come to the same conclusion.
DeSantis noted that he has been closely working with the leaders of the Florida House and the Senate and that there is currently a bill that will be put out by the Legislature that will ensure that any development agreements that have been entered into by Disney are revoked.
“We made a decision as a state, as a people through the medium of our elections, that we would not have one corporation serving as its own government. That’s not good government, that’s not something we want to entertain in Florida any longer and whatever rationale there was sixty years ago to do that, clearly now we’re in a much different era as a state.” DeSantis said.
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Andrew Powell is contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Cinderella’s Castle” by David Guerrero CC0
