For more than 50 years, a Florida law has allowed the Walt Disney Company to govern itself on the grounds of the Disney World theme park and resort in Orlando. But not anymore.
Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a law stripping Disney of its self-governing status and special privileges.
"Allowing a corporation to control its own government is bad policy, especially when the corporation makes decisions that impact an entire region," DeSantis said in a statement. "This legislation ends Disney’s self-governing status, makes Disney live under the same laws as everybody else, and ensures that Disney pays its debts and fair share of taxes."
The legislation amends the Reedy Creek Improvement District charter to end Disney's exemption from the Florida Building Code and Florida Fire Prevention Code, as well as its exemption from state regulatory reviews and approvals. It also "ends Disney's secrecy by ensuring transparency, prevents leftist local governments from using the situation to raise local taxes, and imposes Florida law so that Disney is no longer given preferential treatment," the governor's office said.
"Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end. There's a new sheriff in town and accountability will be the order of the day," DeSantis said during a news conference on Monday.
DeSantis also appointed five members to a state control board known as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which will oversee government services in the nearly 25,000-acre zone encompassing Walt Disney World.
Under the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, Walt Disney World -- the largest private employer in the state -- was allowed to essentially run as its own municipal government.
DeSantis first announced his plans to repeal the act roughly a year ago, after Disney officially denounced Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill, saying it never should have been signed into law and that the company would continue efforts to have the legislation repealed. The bill, officially called the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, prohibits classroom instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in K-3 classrooms, among other things.
At the time, DeSantis said it was "never appropriate" to allow Disney to govern itself, and that "it's certainly not appropriate now at this point."
"I think they're used to having their way and they're not used to having people that will stand in their way and say, 'Actually, the state of Florida is going to be governed by the best interest of the people in Florida,'" he said. "We're certainly not going to bend a knee to woke executives in California. That is not the way the state's going to be run."
Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World, said the company wouldn't fight the state takeover.
"We are focused on the future and are ready to work within this new framework, and we will continue to innovate, inspire and bring joy to the millions of guests who come to Florida to visit Walt Disney World each year," Vahle said in a statement earlier this month.
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