On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced that the state Legislature would consider a proposal to eliminate Disney’s special tax and governmental jurisdiction in DeSantis’ fight against the megacorporation’s woke politics.
DeSantis said in a statement:
“I am announcing today that we are expanding the appeal of what they will be considering this week, and so yes, they will be considering…the termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968, and that includes the Reedy Creek Improvement District.”
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis asked the state’s legislature on Tuesday to consider ending special tax districts established before 1968, including one that effectively lets Disney govern the land its theme parks are built on https://t.co/dl4Q3IGl2c
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 19, 2022
The Reedy Creek Improvement District is Disney’s special administrative and tax district for the Walt Disney World Resort. The Florida Legislature authorized it in 1967 to stimulate economic development and tourism within the district boundaries. This includes 25,000 acres.
The elimination of this special district would deal a major economic blow to the Disney company.
As DeSantis put it, Disney “crossed the line” this year when Disney decided to challenge Florida’s Parental Rights In Education law, which limits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Within an hour of the signing of the Parental Rights law, Disney released the following statement on Twitter:
Statement from The Walt Disney Company on signing of Florida legislation: pic.twitter.com/UVI7Ko3aKS
— Walt Disney Company (@WaltDisneyCo) March 28, 2022
With regard to Disney’s special privileges in Florida, DeSantis had this to say:
Over many, many, decades, where they have gotten essentially this one corporation put on a pedestal, and treated differently. And so that is something that I know [law makers] are scrutinizing. But it’s really going to be up to the Legislature to re-evaluate,” said the Governor. “I can tell you, just as a matter of first principal, if you didn’t have lobbying heft, and you didn’t have a lot of influence, I think a lot of those things that have accumulated over the years would probably not be justifiable.
Governor DeSantis made the announcement this morning:
In addition to congressional reapportionment, this week’s special session will include termination of legacy special districts and removal of exemptions from the big tech accountability law. pic.twitter.com/67sF4E113I
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 19, 2022
Had Disney executives focused on protecting families and children and not entering a divisive cultural war it wouldn’t have lost the confidence of Americans. It also wouldn’t have made these types of headlines:
Republicans also considered other measures to fight Disney’s LGBTQIA program.
- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) called on the Florida Legislature to close Disney’s $600 million tax loophole.
- House Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN) said he would fight to end the copyright of Mickey Mouse.
Source: WLT