Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s move against Walt Disney Corp. this week shows he’s willing to take the Republican Party’s culture war to new heights -- with a frontal assault on one of his state’s biggest and most iconic employers -- as he jockeys for position in a potentially crowded 2024 presidential field, according to Bloomberg.
Republican governors like Texas’s Greg Abbott have laid down starkly conservative positions on abortion and transgender students that show their bona fides. Corporations have at times banded together in protest, often saying those policies discriminate against their workers, but Abbott’s moves generally haven’t been aimed at a single employer.
DeSantis took it further. A month-long feud between the governor and Disney escalated this week when the state legislature capitulated to DeSantis’s call to strip Burbank, California-based Disney of its special governing rights, a move that could challenge the company’s ability to operate its iconic theme park, which employs 70,000 people and brings in $780 million in tax revenue to the state DeSantis governs.
DeSantis criticized Disney after the company spoke out against a Florida law the governor signed last month that limits school instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation, a law critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Republican strategists and analysts said the fight with Disney allows DeSantis to gain influence outside of Florida by standing up to what conservatives call a “woke” corporation, at a time when Republicans increasingly emphasize culture-war issues and opposition to big businesses taking stands on political issues. But observers expressed surprise he was willing to take it this far.
DeSantis’s spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said Thursday the motivation wasn’t politics but DeSantis’s long-held support for “a more level playing field” for all businesses in the state -- and that it was Disney that inserted itself in the process.
“It is not ‘retaliatory’ to pass legislation that gets rid of carve-outs and promotes a fairer environment for all companies to do business,” Pushaw said in a statement. “It was unfortunate that Disney decided to wade into a political debate and attempt to strong-arm Florida into overturning a common-sense law.”
In March, Florida lawmakers passed a law supported by DeSantis that bans instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools for kindergarten through third grade classes and may allow restrictions for older students as well. After its adoption, Disney issued a statement saying that the legislation “should never have been passed and should never have been signed into law.” The company said it would work to get the law repealed or struck down in court. That angered DeSantis, who said Florida is “governed by the interests of the people of the state” and not by California corporate executives.
“If Disney wants to pick a fight, they chose the wrong guy,” DeSantis said in a campaign e-mail earlier this week.
“It is not ‘retaliatory’ to pass legislation that gets rid of carve-outs and promotes a fairer environment for all companies to do business,” Pushaw said in a statement. “It was unfortunate that Disney decided to wade into a political debate and attempt to strong-arm Florida into overturning a common-sense law.”
In March, Florida lawmakers passed a law supported by DeSantis that bans instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools for kindergarten through third grade classes and may allow restrictions for older students as well. After its adoption, Disney issued a statement saying that the legislation “should never have been passed and should never have been signed into law.” The company said it would work to get the law repealed or struck down in court. That angered DeSantis, who said Florida is “governed by the interests of the people of the state” and not by California corporate executives.
“If Disney wants to pick a fight, they chose the wrong guy,” DeSantis said in a campaign e-mail earlier this week.
On April 19, DeSantis asked the legislature to consider terminating the special privileges Disney enjoys through the existence of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special district in Central Florida. Within hours, bills were filed in the Florida House and Senate to terminate all special districts enacted in Florida prior to 1968 without additional legislative action, which includes five other districts and Reedy Creek. The legislation moved quickly through both chambers, and was formally approved on Thursday. The measure would take effect as of June 1, 2023, barring any further legislative action.
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