Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs a bill that strips Disney of special tax status

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs a bill that strips Disney of special tax status. 

After the entertainment behemoth resisted new state legislation called “Don’t Say, Gay,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill dissolving Walt Disney World’s private government.

By June 2023, the law would abolish the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as Disney’s 55-year-old government is known, and a few other comparable districts. 

However, the bill does provide for the re-establishment of the districts, giving them a chance to re-negotiate their destiny.

The action could have significant financial ramifications for Disney. 

Their theme parks have helped convert Orlando into one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. 

MORE: Many U.S. Apple Stores Workers Steps to Unionize.

It further sours relations between the Republican-led government and a prominent political figure in the state.

DeSantis’ attack on Disney is the latest salvo in a culture war he’s waging over race, gender, and the coronavirus. 

These conflicts have helped him become one of the most popular Republicans in the country and a possible presidential candidate in 2024.

Disney’s criticism of new legislation prohibiting training on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and instruction that is not “age-appropriate or developmentally suitable” started the feud with the firm.

Disney announced in March that it would stop making political donations in the state and would instead fund groups fighting the new law. 

DeSantis and his Republican colleagues then went after Disney, defending the law as reasonable.

DeSantis claimed Disney misled the text of the education law at the bill signing ceremony on Friday but that the company’s promise to oppose the law was unacceptable.

“You’re a corporation situated in Burbank, California, and you’re planning to use your financial might to target my state’s parents. We see that as a provocation, and we will respond in kind,” According to DeSantis.