© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during his night party for the 2022 US midterm elections in Tampa, Florida, US November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
(Reuters) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has stepped up his fight against Walt Disney (NYSE:Co.), which is seeking to invalidate an agreement sanctioned by Disney to limit the power of the board of directors appointed by DeSantis to oversee the Florida theme park.
On Thursday in remarks made at Hillsdale College in Michigan, DeSantis said the legislature would reverse changes Disney made shortly before it lost control of the board.
“They’re not superior to the people of Florida. So come hell or high water, we’re going to make sure that Florida policy continues,” the Florida governor said.
“We’ll look at things like hotel taxes, we’ll look at things like road tolls, we’ll look at things like developing some of the real estate that the district owns,” DeSantis added. , who is widely considered to be a presidential candidate for 2024.
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on DeSantis’ remarks. However, earlier in the week, CEO Bob Iger hit back at DeSantis, saying his apparent retaliation against Disney for taking a stand on the legislation was “anti-business.” Disney has opposed the Florida Parental Rights to Education Act—referred to by opponents as the “Don’t Say Like Me” law—which restricts classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Florida lawmakers passed a bill in February that gives DeSantis effective control of a board that oversees municipal services and development in a special district that includes the Walt Disney World Resort.
However, prior to the takeover by DeSantis’ appointees, Disney pushed for changes to the special tax district agreement that limited the board’s work to decades.
“What Disney has tried to do is they’ve tried to say that they should be able to operate outside the context of our Florida constitutional system,” DeSantis said Thursday.