Florida’s DeSantis gains control over Disney district
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will soon take control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district after Senate Republicans approved a bill Friday punishing the company over its opposition to the law critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”
The legislation, which now awaits the governor’s signature, would require DeSantis to appoint a fivemember board to oversee the government services the district provides in the company’s sprawling properties in Florida.
The vote on the Disney bill ended a special legislative session focused on the conservative agenda of a governor who has leveraged national political tensions to become a national GOP star and potential White House contender.
The session itself, which was hastily called and completed, also signaled DeSantis’ willingness to leverage the Republican supermajority in the statehouse to accomplish his political goals, a strategy he will continue in the coming months as he builds toward his expected presidential candidacy.
The Disney district takeover
was initiated last year when Disney publicly opposed “Don’t Say Gay,” which bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender
identity in kindergarten through third grade and lessons deemed not age-appropriate.
DeSantis moved to penalize
the company, directing lawmakers to dissolve the district during a special legislative session in April, beginning a closely watched restructuring process.
Last week, the Republican leaders of the House and Senate, in coordination with the governor, ordered lawmakers to return for another special session to complete the state takeover of the district.
“This all seems a retaliation by the governor for Disney voicing its support for the LGBTQ community,” Democratic Sen. Linda Stewart said Friday before the bill’s passage.
The measure also changes the district’s name from the Reedy Creek Improvement District to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and subjects it to various layers of state oversight. Board members are currently named through entities controlled by Disney.
The bill leaves the district and its financial abilities and debt obligations intact, addressing a chief concern of surrounding governments. It also prevents people who have worked with or contracted with a theme park in the past three years from serving on the district’s new governing board.
Having a separate government allows the district to issue bonds and provide zoning, fire protection, utilities and infrastructure services on its land. Republican critics of the district argue it gives Disney a commercial advantage unavailable to others.
“This bill takes an old district and modernized it and updated it,” said Republican Rep. Fred Hawkins, the bill sponsor. “It took rights away that no corporation should have in being able to construct or have an unfair competitive advantage over its competitors.”
The creation of the district was instrumental in the company’s decision to build near Orlando in the 1960s.
Disney officials had told the state they planned to build a futuristic city that would include a transit system and urban planning innovations, so the company needed autonomy in building and deciding how to use the land. The futuristic city never materialized and instead morphed into a second theme park that opened in 1982.
Separately on Friday, Republicans in the House gave final passage to two bills that amount to technical fixes to key DeSantis initiatives on immigration and voter fraud. The proposals now move to the governor’s office to be signed into law.