PORTSMOUTH, OH – Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis (aka Pappa Bear) is back from his walk through the everglades. And nobody sits in Papa Bear’s patio lounger or eats his Cuban sandwich. Okay, I changed the story a tidbit.
Florida has unveiled a plan to ‘dissolve’ Disney’s self-governing status. A plan was announced Friday to introduce a bill into the Florida Legislature that would replace Walt Disney World’s special self-governing power with a state-run board.
Read the notice here.
In a statement from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ (R) office, they explained what will happen once Disney World’s self-governing district is revoked, which started after the mega-company wrongfully accused the state of targeting the LGBTQ+ community when they passed a law to prevent educators from teaching children sexual content in early grade school.
“The corporate kingdom has come to an end,” DeSantis’ communications director, Taryn Fenske, told Fox News. “Under the proposed legislation, Disney will no longer control its own government, will live under the same laws as everyone else, will be responsible for their outstanding debts, and will pay their fair share of taxes.”
Brief History on Disney:
“In 1967, the Florida Legislature created the Reedy Creek Improvement District (the District), in which gifted extraordinary special privileges to a single corporation. Until Governor DeSantis acted, the Walt Disney Company maintained sole control over the District. This power amounted to an unaccountable Corporate Kingdom,” Deputy Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern explained. “Florida is dissolving the Corporate Kingdom and beginning a new era of accountability and transparency.”
Huh? Sounds kind of similar to the Pope and the Vatican. The Pope Frances would be akin to Walt Disney and the Roman Catholic Church would be the Magic Kingdom. Peculiar analogy, I know – or is it?
Under the Vatican Constitution, which was promulgated in 2000, the Pope ‘has the fullness of legislative, executive and judiciary power.’ The Vatican is a small city-state with self-governing and is recognized by world powers. It appoints its own ambassadors and receives ambassadors from other countries and has a papal archive, a library, a museum, and a publishing house. The home of the Pope is a self-contained city with everything it needs to survive as an independent state.
As reported in Townhall, the legislation would do the following:
- Permanently eliminates Disney’s self-governing status.
- Imposes a state-controlled, term-limited board – with members appointed by the governor – on Disney and its property.
- Allows the state to impose taxes on Disney for possible road projects outside of the District’s boundaries.
- Ensures that Disney pays the $700+ million in unsecured debt – not Florida taxpayers.
- Provides no control of the district to the leftist local government in Orange County, which threatened to leverage the situation to raise local taxes.
- Imposes Florida law so that Disney is no longer given preferential treatment.
- Prevents Disney from gaining more land by eminent domain.
- Creates an avenue to compel Disney to contribute to local infrastructure.
A round of applause for Pappa Bear.
Redfern noted what Disney was able to do under the 1967 agreement:
- Full self-governing status with a Disney-selected board.
- The ability to build airports and nuclear facilities.
- Acquisition of property beyond the District’s territory by condemnation and eminent domain.
- Unilateral boundary changes.
- No-bid procurements of construction contracts.
- Operating standards that varied from Florida Statute.
- Exemptions from regulatory reviews and approvals that other companies must navigate.
Pappa Bear is in the house and Goldilocks better mind her manners.
In an article for Business Insider, State Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat representing parts of Broward and Miami-Dade, made snarky remarks at a press conference about Gov. DeSantis running for the U.S. presidency
“We are all hoping the governor makes a decision real soon about what he wants to do with his future, so he can leave the business of legislating in Florida to Floridians,” Pizzo huffed and puffed and tried to blow the Republican house down.
However, DeSantis’ house is made of bricks.
By the way, Casey and Ron tied the knot at Disney World in 2009. Dressed in his white, decorated Naval uniform, DeSantis exchanged wedding vows with Casey DeSantis, whose maiden name was Black, at the Grand Floridian’s wedding pavilion, a chapel with arched windows overlooking Cinderella’s Castle and the Seven Seas Lagoon. The reception was held at Epcot’s Italy Isola, in a nod to the couple’s Italian heritage.
“Florida, where woke goes to die.” –Gov. Ron DeSantis
Lyrics from Song of the South:
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Listen on YouTube. Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (Original). [Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah – Song of the South (1946).
Kudos to Pappa Bear.
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