ORLANDO, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis said he and the Florida Legislature are ready to open up multiple new fronts in his battle against one of the state's largest businesses, Disney.
Thursday, Governor DeSantis spoke at the conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan and said Disney "reopened" the issues after it was discovered that the previous board for the Reedy Creek District had ceded much of its control over to Disney before DeSantis' custom-picked board took over the area.
DeSantis' government has already started to investigate the move by the previous board.
"There'll be a lot that comes out over the next month or two, but suffice to say; the legislature is going to void anything Disney did on the way out the door," DeSantis said Thursday night.
Beyond the fight over the mood by the previous board, Disney's play seems to have angered the governor after he had taken a victory lap for his actions against Disney. DeSantis said a lot more actions against Disney are now on the table.
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"But now that Disney has reopened this issue, we’re not just going to void the development agreement they tried to do," DeSantis said. "We’re going to look at things like taxes on the hotels. We’re going to look at things like tolls on the roads. We’re going to look at things like developing some of the property that the district owns."
His words echoed recent ones from the Florida Speaker of the House.
Having played by its own rules for decades, @disney has doubled down to keep it that way, in an attempt to evade a newly created board that would bring public accountability similar to every other business. As a result, all legislative options are now back on the table.
— Paul Renner (@Paul_Renner) April 3, 2023
Continuing to try to punish Disney in his government's battles puts a large amount of revenue at stake. One 2019 study put the tourism industry in the Orlando area as a $75 billion industry. While Disney is unlikely to ever completely pull out of the area, if they begin to scale back any future plans, it could have a devastating impact on Florida's economy.
For his part, DeSantis isn't worried about the business or tourism implications and said Thursday his government would win.
"And so, come hell or high water; we’re going to make sure that that policy of Florida carries the day. And so they can keep trying to do things, but ultimately we’re going to win on every single issue involving Disney, I can tell you that," DeSantis said.
