Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has today responded to Disney filing a major lawsuit against him and the entire board of his hand-picked Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
Following the same pattern of behavior that the Florida Governor has exhibited in his attacks on Disney over the last year, he repeated claims that Disney doesn't follow the same rules as everyone else and is put on a pedestal.
DeSantis frequently talks about Disney not paying its fair share of taxes and how that will change under his new oversight district. Disney points out that in 2022, it paid $1.146 billion in state and local taxes, making the Walt Disney Company the largest single taxpayer in Central Florida.
Speaking to media during a visit to Israel, DeSantis said, "They're upset because they're having to live by the same rules as everybody else. They don't want to pay the same taxes as everybody else and they want to be able to control things without proper oversight. The days of putting one company on a pedestal with no accountability are over in the state of Florida."
Disney claims in its lawsuit filed in a federal court yesterday that there has been "A targeted campaign of government retaliation-orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney's protected speech-now threatens Disney's business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights."
Read more about Disney's lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
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