DeSantis signs bill to void Disney’s deal with Reedy Creek

DeSantis signs bill to void Disney’s deal with Reedy Creek

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis wasted no time signing a bill into law that allows the board he chose to oversee Disney World’s sprawling 25,000-acre domain to ignore development agreements approved by the previous board handpicked by the entertainment giant.

DeSantis signed the bill (SB 1604) on Friday, a day after the Senate approved it. Sarasota Sen. Joe Gruters, a former chair of the Republican Party of Florida, sided with Senate Democrats in voting against the bill.

“Self-government is over,” DeSantis said.

The bill’s original focus was on land use law, but the sponsor, Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, added language that DeSantis wanted. It allows a newly created independent district to not comply with any decisions made by the previous board up to three months before the new board was created.

It doesn’t mention the new board, the Central Florida Tourism Development District, or the old board, called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, but Ingoglia conceded that was its target.

“When are we going to stop playing whack-a-mouse and focus on solving the real issues that Floridians face?” asked Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. “This is really getting old and I understand DeSantis’ presidential bid is tanking and he needs to take on Mickey Mouse to look big and bad to his base but really, Governor — just let it go.”

Disney has responded by suing DeSantis and the state in federal court, declaring that it was politically targeted because it opposed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law that bans instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools.

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