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Florida House passes bill dissolving Disney’s special self-governance status

WASHINGTON – The Florida House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday to remove zones that allowed the Walt Disney Company to run its own Orlando-area amusement park, sending the measure to Governor Ron DeSantis for his signature.

DeSantis, a Republican, urged the Legislature to support the measure during a special session this week. House lawmakers passed the bill in a 68-38 vote following a Senate 23-16 vote Wednesday.

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The law would dismantle Disney’s special district on June 1, 2023. The county, created under state law in 1967, allows Disney to self-govern 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 corporation in the face of criticism from leaders of a law he recently signed that prevents classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade.

In recent weeks, DeSantis has suggested that he wants to remove Disney’s protections, saying he’s not “advocating special privileges in the law just for the sake of a powerful company.”

The House of Representatives on Thursday also passed a bill passed by the Senate in a 70-38 vote that would remove Disney’s immunity from the 2021 legislation on major tech censorship.

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