Loading player
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Republican, he signed a law that ends the special status that Disney, the most famous entertainment company in the world, had in its state. CNN explains that the new law is equivalent to an acquisition by the state of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, one of the many special districts that exist in Florida and that can autonomously manage their own spaces. It was established in May 1967 to allow the Walt Disney Company to build an amusement park, Disney World, southwest of Orlando: for over fifty years it guaranteed Disney control of the territory, as well as tax rebates and subsidized loans for the development of services and infrastructures that could also be used by all residents and attract tourists.
During a press conference, DeSantis explained that Disney had enjoyed a special status since the 1960s which allowed it ample autonomy and which exempted it from a series of state regulations valid for other companies. The new law changes the name of the Reedy Creek Improvement District to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and places it under various levels of state oversight. For example, it allows the governor to replace the current district council, made up mostly of people connected to Disney, with a new state council composed of five members chosen by DeSantis: they are very close to the Republican party and some have financially supported the governor during his election campaign. The new board will meet for the first time next week.
The signing of the new law will also end Disney’s exemption from Florida’s building code and fire prevention code. The governor explained that Disney World will be treated like SeaWorld and other theme parks in the state.
The clash between Disney and the Florida government began last year, during discussions for the bill informally called “Don’t say gay”, which among other things prohibits talking about orientation sexuality and gender identity in schools. Initially Disney had not exposed itself against the law but after receiving numerous criticisms and pressures from its approximately 75,000 employees in Florida she had apologized and had suspended the donations that she donated each year to politicians of the state, of both political sides.
At the end of March, after DeSantis signed the law, Disney had also issued a statement in which it said that the measure “should never have been voted on”. For their part, the Republicans and DeSantis had accused Disney of “having taken advantage of too long” the privileges granted by the Florida government, of wanting to “govern the state”, as well as wanting to carry out a program of “woke” ideology, a word which defined the attitude of those who are particularly attentive and committed to social injustices but which today often has a derogatory and sarcastic connotation. For this, the local government had threatened to revoke Disney World‘s special tax status and then, in April 2022, he had. The Walt Disney Company is the state’s most influential private company, and Disney World attracts tens of millions of tourists each year.
– Read also: Running Disney is always a problem