Disney filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday, claiming that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers cut off Disney World’s autonomy over its political speech.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida and seeks the overturn of the laws that ended Disney’s special privileges under the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
The entertainment giant says the laws represent the “unlawful taking of Disney’s property rights without payment of just compensation in violation of the (U.S. Constitution’s) Takings Clause.” Disney also says it was goaded by the move by the new DeSantis-appointed board members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to void existing development contracts that “laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs.”
The company says in the lawsuit that these contracts are worth $17 billion and would create 13,000 new Disney jobs.
The company says in the lawsuit that DeSantis has mounted an “orchestrated campaign” against the company for its opposition to the Parental Rights in Education bill that he signed into law in 2022. The law prohibits Florida schools and teachers from discussing “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” with students in kindergarten through third-grade classes.
DeSantis called a special session that year to address the issues surrounding the Reedy Creek Improvement District – a special privilege that had given Disney taxing and regulatory autonomy over hundreds of acres of land in central Florida since 1967. The district has the ability to pay for infrastructure improvements using municipal bonds and to condemn and acquire land outside the district’s boundaries.
Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
