This week, Disney taught Ron DeSantis a significant lesson by pulling the plug on the development of a $1 billion office complex that would’ve brought roughly 2,000 jobs to Florida. The move arrived after weeks of Disney suing DeSantis for violating the company’s first amendment rights by retaliating against the entertainment giant for opposing the state’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill. DeSantis sought to take control of the special district where Disneyland sits, but was repeatedly outmaneuvered by Disney’s lawyers.
However, following the office complex debacle, DeSantis is now trying to to reframe his war with Disney as a missive in the fight against “corporate welfare.” Never mind that DeSantis and Florida Republicans are on the record specifically attacking Disney for being “woke” and publicly stating their intentions to use the full power of the government to punish the company for its protected speech, DeSantis is going to plow ahead and pretend that the feud isn’t an easily actionable first amendment violation.
Cute that he acts like he just wanted to end “corporate welfare” for Disney, and that’s why he went on this crusade against them. Many places in FL have special status. Let’s talk about ‘The Villages.’ This was all because they criticized Ron DeSnowflake. pic.twitter.com/VNuzIR5OBS
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 19, 2023
“They want to have their own government,” DeSantis said during a campaign stop. “They’ve had their own government for 50 years. It’s massive corporate welfare. We’re not doing that. They’re going to live under the same laws as everybody else. They’re going to pay their fair share of taxes. They’re not going to govern themselves.”
There’s just one small problem with DeSantis’ argument. Disney isn’t the only corporate entity with special districts in the state. During an earnings call last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger already dismantled this talking point.
“There are 2,000 special districts in Florida to foster business and investment,” Iger said while mentioning the Daytona International Speedway. “It’s easy to say Reedy Creek benefits us, but it’s misleading not to say how it benefited the state of Florida.”
As for taxes, Iger also noted during the call that Disney paid $1.1 billion in taxes in 2022. Try again, Ron.
(Via Ron Filipkowski on Twitter)
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/ron-desantis-disney-war-corporate-welfare/
