Florida sues Disney as DeSantis’ war ramps up

Ron DeSantis’ hand-picked board voted Monday to contradict Disney after the company filed its own lawsuit against them.

The move comes as the war between Florida’s governor and the amusement park company rises to a new level.

The board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District met for an emergency meeting where it voted unanimously to approve legal action against Disney Parks & Resorts.

“Disney is asking a federal court in Tallahassee to wrestle time back to 1967, when instead this council is legally charged with bringing the district into the 21st century,” said board chairman Martin Garcia.

DeSantis and Disney have fired shot after shot at each other as the war between the presidential candidate and the house Mickey built has turned into a series of retaliations, one-manships, nonsense and legal maneuvers.

The board was responding to Disney’s lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court against DeSantis and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board for wresting control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

The Reedy Creek Special Tax District is home to Disney World and Walt Disney World resorts, employs 75,000 people, and attracts 50 million visitors annually.

But DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Florida legislature voted to remove the Reedy Creek board — which was controlled by Disney — and replace it with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight board.

DeSantis named five new members to the board of directors that oversaw the district where Disney once had near-autonomous power and operated similarly to a local government.

Disney sued in federal court, accusing DeSantis and the board of directors of “targeted campaign of government retaliation” in the battle sparked by Disney criticizing DeSantis’ so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Garcia said Monday “since Disney sued us,” the board now has “no choice but to respond.”

Therefore, we are convening today’s meeting to authorize legal action in response to Disney’s federal lawsuit. This district will seek justice in state court here in Central Florida,” he said.

Meanwhile, DeSantis has dismissed Disney’s lawsuit, claiming the company is trying to avoid paying its fair share of taxes.

“They are angry because they have to live by the same rules as everyone else. They don’t want to pay the same taxes as everyone else and they want to control things without proper oversight,” he said during an overseas trip to Israel last week.

“The days of putting one company on a pedestal without accountability are over in the state of Florida,” he added.

Martin Garcia, chairman of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board, accused Disney of trying to use his lawsuit to “wrestle time back to 1967”

The Reedy Creek Improvement District spans nearly 40 square miles and includes the entire Walt Disney World Resort

Disney last week sued Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked board in federal court

Since 1967, Disney has controlled the land where the theme park, resorts, and offices are located, and has the decision-making authority of the de facto self-governing Reedy Creek Improvement District.

After the Florida legislature passed a bill — which DeSantis signed into law — stripping Reedy Creek of power, Disney attempted to sidestep the move by using an obscure legal clause associated with King Charles III.

The move angered DeSanti, and he threatened a slew of regulations against the company — including higher hotel taxes and road tolls — and even considered building a prison on state-owned land next to the theme park.

He denounced the company for trying to impose “awake ideology” on children.

DeSantis is widely regarded as a presidential candidate. While he hasn’t formally announced it, he has been on a national book tour to key early voting states, which many see as a precursor to a campaign.

And in those appearances and in his book, he brags about beating Disney.

The company responded by waiting for the federal lawsuit until the governor was out of the country before indicting him.

CEO Bob Iger earlier this month accused DeSantis of being “anti-business and anti-Florida” at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting. He accused the governor of retaliation against the company.

Disney World is the largest employer in central Florida, with nearly 75,000 employees and 36.2 million visitors by 2021, according to the Themed Entertainment Association.