Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has always been against Disney.
The Post said that on Monday, the Republican would announce new ways to crack down on the big company that tried to take away his control over Florida’s ability to run itself.
The Post said that a top administration source said, “What they tried to do is an embarrassment.” The story that people on the left are spreading is that Governor DeSantis was tricked. But he will win in the end; the fight is far from over.
After Disney’s controversial move, which took away the power of the governor’s newly formed review board, sources say that DeSantis, who is 44 years old, will announce that the state Legislature will try to reverse the decision.
State officials called Disney’s secret move a “poison pill” because they thought it would quickly change the state’s choice to limit control of the special tax district.
“They got used to doing whatever they wanted for far too long,” a reliable person said. I’m sorry to say no.
“He’s not afraid of a fight on this,” the source said about DeSantis.
People generally expect the governor to run for president in 2024. It is said that he plans to take away the extra tax breaks that the Mouse House has gotten since its special tax district was set up in 1967.
The train and other transportation systems at Disney’s Orlando park may soon be open to checks from the outside, even though they weren’t before.
Last year, DeSantis and the Florida Education Association, the state’s biggest employer, had a public fight over the FEA’s resistance to a bill that would have stopped teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools.
DeSantis has organized resistance to the 27,000-acre megalopolis based on the idea that Disney is forcing its “Burbank” values on Florida, even though it has almost complete freedom to do what it wants because it is in a special tax area.
In February, DeSantis changed the five members of Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District with his own “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.”
By doing this, he showed that he was ready to go up against strong business opponents and use the power of the government to get them to back down.
Board members who were controlled by Disney left the company right before it passed agreements that gave Disney control over the artistic direction of the company in the future.
The deal also said that the district couldn’t advertise using the name “Disney” or any of the company’s well-known figures without getting written permission from Disney first.
People who didn’t like DeSantis, like former President Donald Trump, cheered when it looked like Disney beat their competitor at the last minute.
But top officials in the DeSantis administration think the company intentionally kept from the public some information about the new deal that would have been needed by law. They think this was done to avoid unwanted scrutiny and speed up the approval process.
The head of public affairs for Disney, Taryn Fenske, says that “the Florida Legislature and Governor DeSantis worked to put Disney on an even playing field.” Disney was basically “caught red-handed” trying to break the law in Florida.
The company has said that it didn’t hide the plan and that the changes were made in accordance with Florida’s open meeting rules.
Disney said in a statement made earlier this month that all agreements between the district and Disney were legal and had been accepted in open, public meetings, as required by Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law.
There are four theme parks, two water parks, 25 hotels, and close to 80,000 people working for Disney in Florida.