The Sunshine State just gave Disney World the boot.
On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law into effect that strips Disney World of its self-governing status.
The bill, HB9, renames the Randy Creek Improvement district, where Disney World is housed, to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. Under the new law, the park may only have term-limited members who are not recent employees or have been contracted by Disney in the past three years.
According to Fox News, “Since the 1960s, they've enjoyed privileges unlike any company or individual in the state of Florida has ever enjoyed,” DeSantis said at a news conference held at a firehouse near Disney World. “They had exemptions from laws that everyone else had to follow. They were able to get huge amounts of benefits without paying their fair share of taxes.”
“How do you give one theme park its own government and then treat all of the other theme parks differently?” he asked. “So we believe that that was not good policy. We believe that being joined at the hip with this one California-based company was not something that was justifiable or sustainable.”
Before signing the legislation, DeSantis told attendees to check their watches so they know “what time the corporate kingdom came to an end.”
“Today the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” DeSantis said. “There's a new Sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day.”
DeSantis announced the five names of the new board members that will have their first meeting next week. He added that one of the first items on the agenda for them will be reviewing the compensation for the first responders in the area.
“We have people that want to see Disney be what Walt envisioned,” DeSantis said.
These are the new members of Disney World's governing board.
- Bridget Ziegler
- Brian August, Jr.
- Mike Sasso
- Martin Garcia
- Ron Peri
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