Disney should have minded their business.
On Thursday, the Florida House of Representative passed a bill to dissolve the special governing power of Walt Disney World in the state.
Disney series of theme parks have ended up transforming Orlando into one of the most popular tourist destination and this move could have a very huge tax implication. This move also serve to sour the relationship shared between a major state political player and the Republican-led government.
As the bill was passed, you could here the background shouts of the democratic lawmakers as they attempt to protest the bill.
As it stands, the bull in on the way to the desk of the Gov. Ron Desantis the Republican governor who has also been in a serious word battle with the company after they opposed the bill he signed. The bill prohibits classrooms from giving lectures about “sexual orientation” and “gender identity to children in third grade or younger.
The passage of this biull in the Florida House comes one day after the Senate passed the measure by a 23-16 margin in favor of dissolving Disney’s special status that was granted to it over 50 years ago.
The Reedy Creek Improvement Act was put into law in May 1967 by Gov. Claude Kirk in response to Disney’s lobbying efforts. The entertainment corporation proposed constructing a recreation-oriented complex on 25,000 acres of land in a rural region of Orange and Osceola counties in Central Florida, which comprised of 38.5 square miles of mainly empty grassland and swampland.
The County Orange and Osceola lacked the required resources or service to carry out this project, so the state legislature involved Disney in the establishment of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. It’s a special taxing district that gives companies the opportunity to act with the exact responsibility and authority as a county government.
During the Press Conference last month, DeSantis said “What I would say as a matter of first principle is I don’t support special privileges in law just because a company is powerful and they’ve been able to wield a lot of power.” “I think what has happened is there’s a lot of these special privileges that are not justifiable, but because Disney had held so much sway, they were able to sustain a lot of special treatment over the years.”
Shortly after the parent right bill to help fight the law in court, Disney released a statement.
Disney said “Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.” “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that. We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.”
For quite some time, DeSantis has pushed back against the company and also pledge to oppose the so called “wokeness” the company is promoting.
Earlier this month, DeSantis said “Look, there’s policy disputes, and that’s fine,” “but when you’re trying to impose a woke ideology on our state, we view that as a significant threat.”
“This wokeness will destroy this country if we let it run unabated,” he added. “So in Florida, we take a very big stand against that.”
