04-03-2022, 01:53 AM
Florida Lawmaker Threatens a 'Living Hell' for Disney as LGBTQ Feud Intensifies
The Walt Disney Co.'s proclamation that it will somehow force an overturn of Florida's "Parental Rights in Education" bill that Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law on Monday could mean the loss of government perks that will lead to "a living hell" for the company best known for family-friendly theme parks and movies, state Representative Anthony Sabatini told Newsweek on Friday.
Sabatini enthusiastically voted in favor of House Bill 1557, which critics call the "Don't Say Gay" law, in February and has been one of its highest-profile proponents ever since Disney issued a March 28 decree saying its "goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts."
In response, some lawmakers are threatening to reverse government favors that have benefited Disney since 1967, when Florida created something called the "Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID)." This gave Disney taxing and other privileges and allowed it to "act with the same authority and responsibility as a county government," a favor that made sense to politicians at the time since Disney was promising to turn 38.5 square miles of "largely uninhabited pasture and swampland into a global destination," according to the RCID website.
DeSantis, in fact, signaled during a Thursday press conference that he's open to the idea of reversing special privileges that had been carved out for Disney, though repealing corporate state tax breaks are off the table since all businesses qualify for them. DeSantis said he'd be in favor of not allowing Disney "to have their own set of rules compared to everybody else."
https://www.newsweek.com/florida-lawmake...es-1694400
The Walt Disney Co.'s proclamation that it will somehow force an overturn of Florida's "Parental Rights in Education" bill that Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law on Monday could mean the loss of government perks that will lead to "a living hell" for the company best known for family-friendly theme parks and movies, state Representative Anthony Sabatini told Newsweek on Friday.
Sabatini enthusiastically voted in favor of House Bill 1557, which critics call the "Don't Say Gay" law, in February and has been one of its highest-profile proponents ever since Disney issued a March 28 decree saying its "goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts."
In response, some lawmakers are threatening to reverse government favors that have benefited Disney since 1967, when Florida created something called the "Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID)." This gave Disney taxing and other privileges and allowed it to "act with the same authority and responsibility as a county government," a favor that made sense to politicians at the time since Disney was promising to turn 38.5 square miles of "largely uninhabited pasture and swampland into a global destination," according to the RCID website.
DeSantis, in fact, signaled during a Thursday press conference that he's open to the idea of reversing special privileges that had been carved out for Disney, though repealing corporate state tax breaks are off the table since all businesses qualify for them. DeSantis said he'd be in favor of not allowing Disney "to have their own set of rules compared to everybody else."
https://www.newsweek.com/florida-lawmake...es-1694400