Florida legislature approves bill allowing DeSantis-appointed board to cancel Disney agreements

The Florida legislature approved a bill Thursday allowing a tourism board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to oversee Disney World and cancel any agreements made in the three months before the board’s creation.

The bill, which next heads to DeSantis’s desk, would allow the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board to nullify a last-minute deal by Disney that effectively undermined the governor’s efforts to exert more control over the Florida amusement park.

The legislation represents the latest move in DeSantis’s ongoing feud with Disney. The Florida governor has sought to strip away Disney World’s special self-governing powers since the company criticized his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law last year.

The Parental Rights in Education law barred classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade, a prohibition that has since been extended through high school.

Shortly before DeSantis’s newly appointed board was set to take over, Disney and the previous board for the Reedy Creek Improvement District signed an agreement giving the company developmental authority over the park.

The DeSantis-backed board voted last week to void the agreement, claiming that Reedy Creek did not have the authority to make decisions within the city boundaries of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista.

Disney sued the Florida governor and other state officials in the wake of the vote, saying it was the “latest strike” leading to the lawsuit.

“A targeted campaign of government retaliation—orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech—now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights,” the company said in its complaint.

DeSantis has dismissed the lawsuit as “political,” and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board has since said it plans to countersue Disney.