The Florida House of Representatives finally passed a bill that would dissolve Walt Disney World’s private government on Thursday, giving Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis victory in his feud with the entertainment giant against his opposition to a move critics called “Don’t Say Gay.”
The move could have huge tax implications for Disney, whose series of theme parks over the decades have made Orlando one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations and further dampened relations between the Republican-led government and a major political player in the country. .
For DeSantis, the attack on Disney was his last volley in a cultural war against policies involving race, gender and coronavirus, battles that made him one of the country’s most popular Republican politicians and a likely presidential candidate in 2024.
The dispute with Disney began with the company’s criticism of a new law banning instructions on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten up to third grade, as well as instructions that are not “appropriate for age or development.”
Awake Corporations
In March, Disney said it would suspend political donations in the state, adding that it would in turn support organizations working against the new law. DeSantis and his fellow Republicans then attacked Disney and defended the law as reasonable.
“Disney and other awakened corporations will no longer miss out on trading with their uncontrolled pressure campaigns,” DeSantis wrote in a fundraising presentation Wednesday. “If we want to keep track of the Democrats’ machine and their corporate dogs, we need to stand together now.
The bill passed by the legislature on Thursday will remove the Reedy Creek improvement area, as the Disney government is known, as well as a handful of other similar areas by June 2023. The measure leaves room for re-creating areas with a Republican legislative leader signaling for a possible restructuring of a 1967 deal that lawmakers struck with the company, which allows it to provide services such as zoning, fire protection, utilities and infrastructure.
Democrats have warned that the move could lead to local homeowners being hit with big tax bills if they have to take on a bond debt from Disney – although such details are far from clear.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, pictured here in Miami in February 2022, has called for the bill to be passed. (Marta Lavandier / Associated Press)
“Criminal, irritable political retribution”
Democrats, a minority party in Florida’s legislature, have spoken out against the proposal as clear revenge against a company that is a major economic driver in the state.
“Let’s call it what it is: this is the criminal, irritable political payment of a corporation that dared to say that the emperor has no clothes, but if they behave like that in the next election cycle, we may reunite it,” Sen said. . Gary M. Farmer, Democrat.
Disney did not return an email requesting comment. The company is one of the largest private employers in Florida and last year said it has more than 60,000 employees in the state. It is not immediately clear exactly how Disney or neighboring governments would be affected if the area were disbanded.
The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and the control it gave Disney over 11,000 acres in Florida was a crucial element in the company’s plans to build near Orlando in the 1960s. Company officials said they needed autonomy to plan a futuristic city along with the theme park. However, the city never materialized; instead it became an Epcot theme park.
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