Giada Amendolara '25
The fight between Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Disney continues to escalate. It started in March 2022, when the Republican governor of Florida signed into law the Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. According to the New York Times, House Bill 1557 “prohibits classroom instruction and discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in some elementary school grades.”
Disney was opposed to this new legislation, and according to CNBC claimed, “Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law.”
Following Disney’s opposition to the Florida education bill, DeSantis tried to take away Disney’s special tax status. The special tax status started in 1967 and allowed Disney to function as its own municipal government.
According to the New York Times, “it operates as a special zone — known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District and allowed Disney to make its own decisions on the planning and permitting process for construction on its property, to levy taxes to pay for its own fire and medical response services and to generate some of its own electricity.”
The purpose in stopping the special tax status was to “end self-governing status and special privileges provided to Walt Disney World through the Reedy Creek Improvement District and establish a new state-controlled district accountable to the people of Florida” (flgov.com). The Florida legislature then decided to allow Disney to keep the special tax district because the implications of abolishing the district would have had a negative financial impact.
According to the New York Times, DeSantis then gained control of the Board that oversees development at Disney World and has requested an investigation regarding Disney’s attempt to sidestep the state's oversight of Disney.
According to CNN, DeSantis has “threatened to build a prison or a competing theme park near the Magic Kingdom or raise taxes on Walt Disney World to retaliate against the company for resisting a state takeover of its special taxing district.”
Disney's current CEO, Bob Iger, criticized DeSantis, saying the governor's retaliation against the company, for speaking out on controversial legislation, was "anti-business" and even "anti-Florida” (CNN).
Disney is a very important part of Florida’s economy and continues to be one of the most popular vacation spots in the world. According to CNBC, Walt Disney World employs about 80,000 people and is Florida’s biggest tourist attraction. Disney paid a combined $780.3 million in state and local taxes in 2021.
Governor Ron DeSantis has engaged in a very public battle with Disney, and it's not over yet. With DeSantis going up against Disney, this could, according to NPR, show DeSantis “as a culture warrior willing to battle political opponents and wield the power of state government to accomplish political goals and his expected 2024 run for the White House.”
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