WASHINGTON — The Florida Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would dissolve the special taxing district that allows the Walt Disney Co. to self-govern in its theme park area.
Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled chamber backed the measure in a 23-16 vote. It now requires a vote in the state House before it can go to the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called on the Legislature to support the bill during the special session this week.
The legislation would dismantle Disney's special district on June 1, 2023. The special status, which was granted by a state law in 1967, allows Disney to self-govern by collecting taxes and providing emergency services. Disney controls about 25,000 acres in the Orlando area, and the district allows the company to build new structures and pay impact fees for such construction without the approval of a local planning commission.
The effort to eliminate Disney's district, known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, comes after DeSantis began targeting the corporation over its leaders' criticism of legislation he recently signed that would prevent classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through the third grade.
DeSantis has hinted in the last few weeks that he wants to do away with Disney's protections, saying he doesn’t “support special privileges in law just because a company is powerful.”
Separately, the Senate also voted 24-15 on Wednesday to pass a measure that would remove Disney's exemption in a 2021 law about big tech censorship.
brpajense on April 20th, 2022 at 19:01 UTC »
If I understand it correctly, cities and counties will take over emergency services, road maintenance, and building inspections at all the Disney properties. Also, because this all came about in a matter of weeks the government entities taking on all those responsibilities don't have the budget to pay people to do it, don't have the budget to hire people to do it, and don't know how much it will cost to do it. At the same time, he's disparaging his state's largest employer and tourist attraction. He's not doing it for any compelling reason other than a controversial bill came out and Disney make token resistance against it after employees complained.
Seems like DeSantis is just fucking over Florida to burnish his reputation by making Disney a scapegoat for a manufactured crisis. This doesn't seem like it's good for anyone but DeSantis.
Comprehensive-Ad4815 on April 20th, 2022 at 18:30 UTC »
Florida now has to come up with money to pay for emts, firefighters, police officers, the road repair, the power grid.
anonRedd on April 20th, 2022 at 17:52 UTC »