Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is escalating his war with The Walt Disney Co., outlining a series of measures against the company that are leading to a standoff between a potential 2024 presidential nominee and the entertainment giant.
He said he would take legislative action to overturn a deal that gives Walt Disney World overwhelming control over development in a district that oversees the sprawling Florida theme park.
DeSantis also said his office would review other actions against the company, including things like taxes on Disney World hotels, tolls on roads leading to the theme parks, and the development of county sites near the company’s resorts.
“What Disney was trying to do is they were trying to say that they should be able to operate outside of the context of our Florida constitutional system,” DeSantis said. “We took these steps before the election. We won overwhelmingly. They are no better than the people of Florida. And come hell or high water, we’re going to make sure Florida politics come through the day so they can keep trying things, but ultimately we’re going to win on every issue that affects Disney. I can tell you that.”
His comments during an appearance at Michigan’s Hillsdale College came days after Disney CEO Bob Iger blasted the governor’s moves to wrest control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District from the company in retaliation. Last year, Disney opposed a law championed by DeSantis, a parental rights bill — which opponents call the Don’t Say Gay Act.
Iger said Desantis’ actions were “essentially designed to punish a company for exercising a constitutional right. It just seems very wrong to me, against any company or person, but especially against a company that means so much to the state you live in.
DeSantis then sought to dissolve the Reedy Creek District, a public entity that oversees the theme park’s property but was established in 1967 so that Disney would have control of the board. In February, DeSantis signed a bill stripping the company of control of the district and replacing the board with members it nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
But in a twist, the DeSantis-appointed board revealed last month that the Disney-controlled district had struck a development deal with the company that kept Disney World going during one of its most recent meetings. Under the terms of the deal – read it here – Disney has development rights for the next 30 years. The district must also build public utilities and infrastructure as part of a five-year capital improvement plan. In certain cases, the district must obtain Disney’s approvals, including for the use of the company’s name and character. At the last county meeting, one of the DeSantis officials said that the deal “essentially makes Disney the government.”
Disney defended the move. “All agreements between Disney and the District were reasonable and were discussed and approved in open, known public forums in accordance with the Florida government,” the company said in a statement.
At the company’s shareholder meeting this week, Iger said DeSantis’ actions were “anti-business” and “anti-Florida,” referring to the jobs, taxes and resources the company provided to the state.
DeSantis also requested that an inspector general investigate Disney’s development agreement with Reedy Creek.
In his closing remarks, DeSantis appeared to be angered by media reports about the fight with Disney and the idea that the company “persuaded the state.”
“A lot will come out in the next two months, but suffice it to say lawmakers will undo everything Disney has done on the way out,” DeSantis said. “But now that Disney has revived this issue, we’re not just going to destroy the development agreement that they tried to make, we’re going to look at things like taxes on hotels, we’re going to look at things like tolls, we’re going to look at things like that.” we are looking at things like developing some of the district’s properties.
In his comments, he also made it clear that the effort to wrest control of Reedy Creek from Disney was in response to his position on the Parental Rights Act. “We just had to look at it and say, ‘Okay, do you have a quote, first amendment right, for introducing gender ideology in preschool? I don’t think so, but it’s not really in my wheelhouse as governor, but what I can tell you as governor is that under no circumstances should the state of Florida subsidize Wake activism by allowing them to have their own government.
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
