BREAKING: Florida Senate passes bill that would remove Disney's special district status

[In It to Win It]

Link to tweet

[rockfordfile]

1. Time for Disney to only support Democrats.

[dchill]

2. They're mixing their own polonium tea. IMO.

[FBaggins]

3. Yikes!

They play rough.

It might very well be that this is a good idea... but as revenge against a company not playing along with your preferred politics?

[In It to Win It]

4. The revenge part is what I'm having trouble with

Truthfully, I don't really care if they strip Disney of their self-governing authority... but that they're doing it as revenge for a company just speaking out against a political position, I have a problem with that.

[Initech]

6. I do too. This is some full on authoritarian shit here.

[Zeitghost]

28. Same here

I'm conflicted a bit, the idea that a huge mega corp can be granted the same power and authority as a local city government is crazy to me. Ordinarily I would support stripping them of those powers. But on principle, not as an act of retaliation.

[Initech]

5. Not just preferred politics.

They haven't drank the MAGA / Fox News Kool-Aid enough.

[Sympthsical]

7. Yeah, that loses me

On the one hand, corporations have too much power - particularly Disney.

On the other, having a naked partisan motivation for it isn't right.

[Sympthsical]

8. Well, that escalated quickly

I would not have guessed this is where this would be going.

DeSantis will be the nominee in 2024, I think. The Republican base are very much partial to people who "fight the Left." DeSantis has made it his signature style. He's a cheerful culture warrior. Taking on Disney is just political points in the bank for him.

We'll see, but I'd put odds on him.

[Buckeyeblue]

9. What does this really mean? How does it impact Disney?

If this is how Florida does business, why would any other business want to move there?

[GoCubsGo]

13. Yep, and why would the ones already there want to stay and put up

with this kind of shit? This is probably going to blow up in their faces.

[FBaggins]

14. For Disney World it would be huge

For the overall company (several times as large as their FL parks) - not as much.

They are essentially their own county government.

[Buckeyeblue]

25. Seems like it would be a mix bag

If they are their own county government they have to pay for fire, police, roads, etc. If the county they are in takes this over, Disney would pay taxes to the county and they would have to provide, right? Seems like this would be a huge burden for the county.

[Mysterian]

26. Just like a county government

they can levy taxes and fees on residents, and obtain outside governmental grant money, etc.

[Buckeyeblue]

29. Oh. I didn't think of people living on Disney property. But that's what Celebration is all about

I honestly don't think a business should have that kind of authority within a state.

[Mysterian]

31. Technically, it's the "district" that does the quasi-governmental stuff

But these resort district governing boards typically include officers of the business as designated members.

[hatrack]

40. It means that (among other things) $1 billion in bond debt devolves onto two county govs

The two "cities" in the district that issued the bonds have about 55 residents, IIRC.

Oh, and since the counties around Orlando tend Democratic, it lets DeSantis and the Republicans fuck their residents and governments.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. Disney vs DeSantis. I want tickets to this fight...

No love lost for Disney, but a deal's a deal and if the Mouse says gays are OK and the guv hopes to get votes by attacking that, let the games begin.

[lindysalsagal]

11. Disney will have to lawyer up, because none of their facilities will be code compliant.

That means DeSantis could shut the whole park down, insisting that Disney re-build to spec. This is unimaginable. This would bankrupt the park.

Cruella DeSantis will be famous. And gone. I hope he goes for it, and shuts down the Mouse. It will be his undoing.

[Baitball Blogger]

16. This is not true.

There is such a thing as being grandfathered in. We experienced it here in our City, when the City did not require the same developer to build infra-structure on our side of the development up to code, like it did the new development. i.e. no finished curbs on the cul de sac that was built new on the older side, while the new side had a far better look.

[lindysalsagal]

18. DeSantis is making it clear, he IS the law. And no one is stopping him.

Certainly not the legislature. They're going full auto-crat, so history doesn't matter.

[Baitball Blogger]

20. And the worse he gets, the harder he will fall.

Especially going after Disney.

[obamanut2012]

22. Disney maintains all infrastructure way better than the State and counties would

[lindysalsagal]

35. In many ways you're probably right. But having been in a restaurant-owning

family, I know that when the powers that be want to find you in violation of a code, they will. Things like exact widths of building parts and distances between them. Cement stairs instead of wood, ventilation, drainage, building materials, etc. The list is endless if they want to enforce it.

[obamanut2012]

38. I am not probably right, I am right

[FloridaBlues]

12. Sign off on the horrible map so it can be struck down before deadline!

In regards to Disney somewhere in original law it has to be voted on by citizens in the districts. Unless they figured a way around it. Desantis is George Wallace reincarnated as the state rep said this week.

[rockfordfile]

15. Disney is taking a stand against bigotry

[Freddie]

17. Time for Disney to scout out other locations

Keep Disney World, but open another park in a warm but more hospitable place (NC?) easier for us Northern folks to get to. FL would lose zillions in tourist $.

[haele]

19. If it's just Disney, it can easily be challenged in court.

Revoking a government contract due to political poutrage is not legal.
To make it legal, they have to revoke the same self-governance exemption on other corporations such as The Villages...which will end up costing each Florida resident taxpayers thousands of dollars a year for all the local infrastructure services that the state or county will have to pick up.
How do the GOP zombies in Tallahassee think they're going to handle a sudden need to fund emergency and policing services, water, power, and other infrastructure that these counties are suddenly going to need funding for? I know the Orlando area is Blue, so the Republicans aren't going to care, but the other areas - ?

Haele

[Danmel]

21. I guess they never learned not to bite the hand that feeds you

[LeftInTX]

23. Disney should just pack up...

Along with all the other theme parks....

Exit the state.....

DeSantis will lose re-election

[bluestarone]

24. OK now lets wait for restaurants, motels, bars, airports, rental cars to

Start screaming at this stupid state. Plus lawsuit if this isn't for every business in Florida.

[roamer65]

27. Disney should secede from Florida.

State of Disney!



First state with a Mickey Mouse flag…literally!

[Norbert]

30. Time for an ultimatum

Either you call off this petty stunt or we will padlock the place at the beginning of next year.

[UnderThisLaw]

32. The giddiness

in some of the replies is palpable.

[SWBTATTReg]

33. From what I understand, Disney surveyed lots of real estate before settling in on FL as...

their new location. Perhaps it's time to dust off the maps/surveys/etc. and re-examine? I suspect that states, with a customer the size of Disney coming to the table to open a resort in their state, would bend over backwards to entice Disney to their state.

[former9thward]

34. Disney is not going to walk away from billions of dollars in infrastructure.

It is a resort and they are stuck there.

[sunonmars]

36. Disney has the power, money and strength to take down De Santis

They have the best lawyers up the wazoo and frankly if he keeps this up, De Santis will be utterly destroyed. The Mouse always wins.....

[LetMyPeopleVote]

37. Ron DeSantis' Disney Revenge Could Cost Florida Residents $1 Billion

In Texas, when a city incorporates unincorporated territory, the city assumes and discharges the MUD municipal utility district debt. This is the same concept

Link to tweet

Residents of two Florida counties could end up footing the bill if the state abolishes a special district that has allowed the Walt Disney Company to operate its own local government.....

Farmer, who sponsored the bill, discussed the potential impact on Orange and Osceola counties' residents, saying the population would amount to around 1.75 million people.

"The debt service alone for Reedy Creek is over $1 billion," Farmer said. "This bill makes no provision as to how that debt service is going to be assumed."

The Democrat pointed to another law that said that local government entities would have to pick up the debt of special districts that are dissolved.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District has a long-term bonded debt of $977,215,801, according to its 2021 annual financial report.....

"So this is not supposition, this is not conjecture, this is Florida law that says those 1.7 million people are going to have to pick up this bill," Farmer said, adding that the $1 billion figure doesn't include other items covered by the district, citing fire fighter services and parking garages, among other services.

"All totaled, we're probably talking about $1.5 to $2 billion of obligation - of liabilities," Farmer said.

He went to say that "the debt service alone would amount to $580 per person."

[onethatcares]

39. well the legislature could

introduce a bill creating an income tax to cover any shortfall in revenues caused by Disney not paying it's own way.