To the woke mob’s fury and liberal outrage, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Monday granting the state control over the special tax and governance district previously managed by Disney.
Daily wire reports, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Monday transferring control of Disney’s special tax and governance district to the state.
In 1967, Florida lawmakers created the Reedy Creek Improvement District as a special economic zone for Disney, saving the company tens of millions of dollars in taxes and fees annually. Central Florida Tourism Oversight District is a new state-controlled administrative region created by DeSantis.
Desantis’s office released a statement about Disney’s revocation of special privileges. “Allowing a corporation to control its own government is bad policy, especially when the corporation makes decisions that impact an entire region, This legislation ends Disney’s self-governing status, makes Disney live under the same laws as everybody else, and ensures that Disney pays its debts and fair share of taxes.”
Throughout the early 1960s, Disney covertly acquired tens of thousands of acres in central Florida through shell corporations. Disney World was therefore built on a tract of land that cost an average of $180 per acre. By levying taxes, issuing bonds, and writing its own construction and wastewater management laws, Reedy Creek Improvement District avoided the regulatory headaches that other companies faced throughout the state.
But after Desantis passed the law he went onto Tucker Carlson’s show to tell Disney there is a new sheriff in town.
Additionally, the new law ensures that Disney pays its own municipal debt and ends Disney’s exemption from the Florida Building Code and Florida Fire Prevention Code. Both chambers of the Florida Legislature have strong Republican majorities after the Republican Party swept both chambers in the state’s midterm elections.
DeSantis first moved to strip Disney of its special privileges last year after the company publicly opposed a parental rights bill that was later signed into law prohibiting the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to children between kindergarten and third grade. A Daily Wire poll found that 64% of Americans supported the Florida law that Disney publicly opposed, including 62% of Democrats.
CEO Bob Iger expressed regret over the loss of special regulatory and tax privileges for Disney, promising executives would listen to consumers more carefully in the future. “I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle, and I have no idea exactly what its ramifications are in terms of the business itself, What I can say is that the state of Florida has been important to us for a long time, and we have been very important to the state of Florida.”
Republicans cheered as Gov. Ron DeSantis took a stand against woke corporate mob rule and gave the state control over the special tax and governance district previously managed by Disney. This effectively ends Disney’s self-governing status and makes them live under the same laws as everybody else. Liberals may be outraged, but “go woke go broke” has proven true time and time again so it is no surprise that sane heads like DeSantis have had enough. It’s about time that woke corporations woke up to the reality of their corporate responsibility!
