Photo: Matt Stroshane/disney
Florida Gov.Ron DeSantiswants to give Walt Disney World, the place “where dreams come true,” what he thinks is a necessary — but already controversial — wake-up call.
DeSantis asked state lawmakers Tuesday to consider ending a deal between Disney World and Florida that since 1967 gives the company special privileges, including tax exemptions and certain autonomies like providing its own fire, police and other services such as building and maintaining roads,The New York Times reports.
State legislators “will be considering termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968, and that includes the Reedy Creek Improvement District,” DeSantis said,according toThe Washington Post, referring to a special zone encompassing 25,000 acres in two counties that include Disney properties.
The Florida Senate voted in favor of revoking the privileges starting in June 2023. The Florida House has not yet weighed in but isexpected this weekto also approve the move.
According to theReedy Creek website, the 40-square mile zone is “one of the busiest places in America” and contains four theme parks, two water parks, 175 miles or roadway, two cities, water treatment and waste collection and facilities, electric power generating and distribution plants, thousands of hotel rooms, restaurant and retail spaces.
More than20 million people visited Disney World in 2019, before theCOVID-19 pandemic.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Getty
The status of Disney, the largest private employer in Florida, came up after the company expressed opposition to a polarizing new education law in the state that opponents have denounced as the"Don’t Say Gay" bill, which restricts mention of LGBTQ topics in schools.
The governor responded, attacking Disney as “woke” for taking a stand on some cultural issues (the parkremoved"ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls" from announcements, replacing it with the gender-neutral “dreamers of all ages,” for example),theTimesreported. DeSantis also said in a fundraising email that the iconic company “lost any moral authority to tell you what to do.”
At apress conference April 1, the governor described Disney as “one corporation put on a pedestal and treated differently.”
“My view is that we should just treat everybody equally,” he added. “We shouldn’t let one company have their own set of rules.”
The Walt Disney World castle.Gene Duncan/Disney Parks via Getty
DeSantis also said the proposed termination of Florida’s deal with Disney isn’t just about the company’s opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, whose supporters insist they are focused on children.
“These people out in California who are working very high up in this company. The stuff coming out of their mouth is unbelievable,” he said, referring to a Disney executives’discussion of including gay charactersin its shows and other instances of “queerness” in its entertainment offerings.
“That they view their programming as a way to inject a lot of these topics into programming for very young kids,” DeSantis said. “I can tell you, as a parent of very young kids, that is not what I want to be seeing — them talking about pushing an agenda, an ideological agenda.”
source: people.com
