Politicians such as former vice president Mike Pence and Miami mayor Francis Suarez think Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s approach to Disney is all wrong, costing the state and its residents.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Disney would pull a $1 billion office-development project amid an ongoing dispute with DeSantis. The dispute originates with Disney voicing opposition to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act. In response, the Florida governor ramped up oversight efforts. While DeSantis originally intended to strip Disney of its 56-year-old “independent special district” status, it soon became clear that taxpayers would have to foot the bill for Disney’s various municipal services and also assume the tax district’s debt of around $1 billion. DeSantis relented on this particular proposal, but has pursued other oversight measures such as taking control of the district’s board.
Disney has warned that if it continues to be targeted, it will reassess $17 billion in planned investment. “We operate responsibly. We pay our fair share of taxes. We employ thousands of people, and by the way, we pay them above the minimum wage — substantially above the minimum wage dictated by the state of Florida. We also provide them with great benefits and free education,” CEO Bob Iger said recently, asking: “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?”
According to Pence and Suarez, who are considering presidential bids of their own, DeSantis ought to correct course.
“I just don’t believe it’s in the interest of people in any state for a government to essentially go after a business that they disagreed with on a political issue. I disagree with Florida moving against Walt Disney. I disagree with California moving against Walgreens because they’re going to obey the law about abortifacients in some 20 states, so they’re going to cancel a $120 million project,” Pence said in an interview on Fox Business.
“At the end of the day, the business of America is business, and I’m not terribly surprised to see Disney canceling a $1 billion contract. That’s only going to harm people in the Orlando and Florida area, and it’s one more reason why as a limited-government conservative I’ve said for months now: Both sides ought to stand down,” Pence added.
The former vice president clarified that he supports the Parental Rights in Education Act, and he urged DeSantis to “take the victory for parents’s rights . . . and move on.”
Suarez concurred that this has gone in a direction it didn’t need to go.
“Look, he took an issue that was a winning issue that we all agreed on, which was parental rights for K through third-graders,” said Suarez, as quoted by the Hill. “And it looks like now it’s something, spite or maybe potentially a personal vendetta, which has cost the state now potentially 2,000 jobs in a billion-dollar investment.”
“I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that Joe Biden does, you know, he canceled the Keystone pipeline and other pipelines out of spite that cost Americans 42,000 jobs,” said Suarez. “And you know, one thing that he has in common with the president is he hasn’t spent much time in the private sector. And I wonder if that influences his thinking on some of this stuff.”
National Review reached out to DeSantis for comment about the canceled project and was told: “Disney announced the possibility of a Lake Nona campus nearly two years ago. Nothing ever came of the project, and the state was unsure whether it would come to fruition.”
“Given the company’s financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price, it is unsurprising that they would restructure their business operations and cancel unsuccessful ventures,” the statement added.
DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin previously told National Review that “Disney had extraordinary special privileges and an unfair special advantage compared to other businesses in the state.”
“Good and limited government (and, indeed, principled conservatism) reduces special privilege, encourages an even playing field for businesses, and upholds the will of the people,” Griffin said.