Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis indicated that his struggle with Disney was far from over.
“There’s a lot of little back-and-forths going on now with the state taking control, but rest assured, you know, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” he told a Smyrna, Georgia, crowd according to CNN. “There’s more to come in that regard.”
DeSantis made these comments a day after the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board, which controls land around and inside Disney’s Orlando area properties, revealed that Disney had quietly taken land-development power from the board right before the state took over in February.
In February, the Republican governor signed legislation that would have removed Disney-aligned members of the board and gave DeSantis the right to name replacements. However, the previous board had agreed previously to allow Disney to veto any public project within the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
The bill aimed to cut Disney’s special powers to tax, borrow and build in the Central Florida area after the company fought DeSantis on his law that reduced education about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
“I don’t know that it’s the appropriate use of shareholder resources to be shilling for gender ideology in kindergarten, but nevertheless, that’s what they decided to do,” DeSantis said.
Despite Disney’s move to retain authority over development, DeSantis plans to continue efforts to take full control.
“They basically got everything they wanted for the many decades they’ve been operating in Florida – until now, because now there’s a new sheriff in town,” DeSantis said Thursday.
DeSantis’ latest book “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival, came out March 1.
He revealed in it that he was married at Disney World and dedicated an entire chapter of his life to the wedding.