Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and the Walt Disney Company clashed anew on Monday, with the governor requesting an investigation into Disney’s effort to sidestep state oversight of its theme parks and Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, blasting Mr. DeSantis as “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.”
Mr. DeSantis and Disney, Florida’s largest private employer and corporate taxpayer, have been sparring for more than a year over a special tax district, enacted in 1967, that has effectively allowed the company to self-govern Disney World as a de facto county. Disney has long been able to control fire protection, policing, road maintenance — and, crucially, development planning — at the 25,000-acre resort.
Mr. DeSantis and the Florida Legislature restricted Disney’s autonomy in February by appointing a handpicked oversight board for the tax district. Previously, Disney selected the board members. But the new appointees — and, apparently, the governor — only realized last week that the Disney-controlled board, as one of its final actions, pushed through a development agreement with the company that would limit the new board’s power for decades to come.
Outraged, the new board hired four law firms to scrutinize the matter and, potentially, take Disney to court.
On Monday morning, shortly before Disney’s annual shareholder meeting, Mr. DeSantis sent a letter to Melinda Miguel, Florida’s chief inspector general, asking for “a thorough review and investigation” into Disney’s effort to circumvent his authority.
Understand the DeSantis-Disney Rift
“These collusive and self-dealing arrangements aim to nullify the recently passed legislation, undercut Florida’s legislative process and defy the will of Floridians,” Mr. DeSantis wrote. “Any legal or ethical violations should be referred to the proper authorities.” A spokesman for Mr. DeSantis added that “Disney is again fighting to keep its special corporate benefits and dodge Florida law. We are not going to let that happen.”
Speaking at the shareholder meeting, Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, denounced Mr. DeSantis for moving to restrict Disney’s tax district autonomy — noting that the governor took action only after the company halted political donations in Florida and criticized a contentious state education law. The legislation, labeled “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents, prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for students through the third grade and limits it for older ones.
“A company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do,” Mr. Iger said. “The governor got very angry over the position Disney took and seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us, including the naming of a new board to oversee the property, in effect to seek to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right. And that just seems really wrong to me.”
Mr. Iger noted that Disney employs 75,000 people at Disney World, which is about 20 miles south of Orlando, and annually attracts 50 million visitors. Mr. Iger added that Disney was “currently planning” to invest more than $17 billion in the resort over the next decade, creating an estimated 13,000 new Disney jobs and thousands of indirect jobs. He said the unspecified expansion plans would attract more visitors to Florida and “generate more taxes.”
“And so our premise is that any action that thwarts those efforts simply to retaliate for a position the company took sounds not just anti-business, but it sounds anti-Florida,” Mr. Iger concluded.
In a statement, Taryn Fenske, a spokeswoman for Mr. DeSantis, acknowledged Disney’s First Amendment rights but questioned the company’s longtime autonomy as it relates to development at Disney World. “The Florida Legislature and Gov. DeSantis worked to put Disney on an even playing field, and Disney got caught attempting to undermine Florida’s duly-enacted legislation in the 11th hour,” she said.
Disney contends that the previous tax-district board acted in accordance with applicable laws when it passed the development agreement last month.
“All agreements signed between Disney and the district were appropriate and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine law,” Disney said in a statement last week.
Notice of a hearing on Disney’s action was made in The Orlando Sentinel on Jan. 18, according to tax district disclosures. The matter was discussed at a short public meeting on Jan. 25. After a second notice in The Sentinel on Jan. 27, it was approved at a second public meeting on Feb. 8.
Mr. DeSantis named five appointees to the oversight board on Feb. 27.
