Florida Senate passes bill stripping Disney of special self-governing status

WASHINGTON – The Florida Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would Dissolution of special tax zones that allows the Walt Disney Company to govern itself in its theme park area.

Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled chamber gave their support measure in a 23-16 vote. It now requires a vote in the House before reaching the table of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who urged the Legislature to back the bill during this week’s special session.

The act will dismantle Disney’s special zone on June 1 of next year. The special status, enacted by state law in 1967, allows Disney to govern itself by collecting taxes and providing emergency services. Disney controls about 25,000 acres in the Orlando area, and the school district allows the company to build new structures and pay impact fees for such construction without the approval of a local planning commission.

Disney’s district-removal effort, called Reedy Creek Improvement Areacome later DeSantis begins targeting group in the face of criticism from leaders of legislation he recently signed that would discourage classroom discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade.

DeSantis has suggest over the past few weeks, he’s wanted to remove Disney’s protections, saying he’s not “advocating special legal privileges just for the sake of a powerful company.”

Separately, the Senate also voted 24-15 on Wednesday to pass measure that would remove Disney’s immunity from the 2021 law on big tech censorship.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here