Late Friday afternoon, an Orange County judge ruled the state case between Disney and the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District will continue, according to WFTV.
What’s Happening:
- Earlier in the ongoing saga between The Walt Disney Company and Florida State Governor Ron DeSantis, Disney had asked the judge presiding over the state case between the two to put the state case on hold while it litigates its case against the district and DeSantis in Federal court.
- The Orange County Judge has ruled against the hold, ruling that a “stay” would not be proper, writing, “It could take years for Disney’s case to complete its course through the federal trial and appellate courts.”
- Earlier this year, Disney filed a lawsuit in Federal Court alleging that DeSantis’ actions (dissolving Reedy Creek Improvement District and creating the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) were a personal, retaliatory attack for the company’s response to a bill he introduced that is commonly referred to by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
- The judge’s ruling only affects the State case, and the Federal lawsuit is unchanged.
Further Background:
- Earlier this year, DeSantis signed legislation that allowed him to appoint his own members to the Reedy Creek Board, all of whom are mentioned and being sued in the lawsuit from the Walt Disney Company.
- Earlier this month, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board filed a countersuit against Disney after the company filed a suit of their own against the state just a few days prior.
- Disney is now asking a Florida judge to dismiss the suit, calling it “moot” and claiming that state law requires that the state court sideline the litigation until the company’s own federal case against Ron DeSantis is resolved.
- Phrasing in the recently amended lawsuit from Disney includes, “The State’s actions over the last two weeks are the latest strikes. At the Governor’s bidding, the State’s oversight board has purported to ‘void’ publicly noticed and duly agreed development contracts, which had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs. Days later, the State Legislature enacted and Governor DeSantis signed legislation rendering these contracts immediately void and unenforceable. These government actions were patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.”
- Knowing DeSantis will do whatever he can, the lawsuit also adds “The Governor and his allies have made clear they do not care and will not stop. The Governor recently declared that his team would not only “void the development agreement”—just as the State has now done, twice—but also planned “to look at things like taxes on the hotels,” “tolls on the roads,” “developing some of the property that the district owns” with “more amusement parks,” and even putting a “state prison” next to Walt Disney World. “Who knows? I just think the possibilities are endless,” he said.”
- It should also be noted that Disney is not the only one with a district similar to that of Reedy Creek, with The Villages retirement and 55+ community and even Daytona International Speedway operating with their own similar district with their own regulations.