Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis weighed in on the state’s standoff with entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) on Tuesday.
So Much Misinformation: Audit done by Florida state’s oversight board – the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has uncovered a lot of cronyism when the district was controlled by Disney, DeSantis said in a CNBC interview. His comments came in the wake of the one-year anniversary of the governor signing the bill that created the CFTOD, which replaced the Disney-controlled board.
For the unversed, Disney previously had administrative control over the district, then called the Reedy Creek district, in which its Florida Theme Park is located. With Disney opposing the state’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, it set itself on a warpath with the state and its governor. Then, the state passed the DeSantis-sponsored legislation to clip Mouse House’s power and transition the district administrative power to the newly-created CFTOD.
Not be cowed down, Disney filed a federal lawsuit alleging violation of its First Amendment Rights and victimization at the hands of the governor.
In Tuesday’s interview, DeSantis said, “There’s not a single corporation in this country other than Disney that actually controlled its own local government with extraordinary powers and they wielded that.”
Slamming those who opposed the takeover of the district by the CFTOD, DeSantis said, “There were a lot of people that were saying, ‘oh! people in Central Florida are gonna pay higher taxes, the Sky’s gonna fall,’ all this stuff those people were wrong.”
“Now obviously there were folks that had a political agenda that just wanted to to hit me, I get that. But there was so much misinformation”
DeSantis noted that the new district administration has been able to save money, and an open procurement process allows local companies to compete. He said earlier that they couldn’t compete for business in the district if they weren’t on the Disney-approved list.
DeSantis On Pending Lawsuit: DeSantis called Disney’s lawsuit against the state as “politically motivated.” He noted that a federal District Judge had dismissed it. Federal Judge Allen Winsor, in late January, dismissed the First Amendment challenge brought by Disney against DeSantis, stating that “Disney’s claims against the Governor and the Secretary will be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”
“There’s not gonna be a federal court that is gonna overrule a legislature. The Florida legislature passed legislation to reform this district. They have every right to do that under our state constitution or pretty much any state legislature would be able to do that in their state,” DeSantis said. He also noted that it has worked out well for taxpayers.
“We’ve exposed a lot of cronyism and I think it’s been a been a success story. I don’t view it as a fight at this point because I think they’ve lost on the underlying claims and and we’re gonna move forward,” the governor said.
He noted that Florida has been doing very well economically. “We’ve got a lot going on in that region and other regions of the state. So we’re proud of that,” he said.
DeSantis, who contested in the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential election, dropped out of the race earlier this year and endorsed Donald Trump.
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