DeSantis signs bill that gives him more control of Disney’s special district – By Steve Contorno and Kit Maher (CNN) / Feb 27, 2023
CNN — Appearing at the doorstep of Walt Disney World, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday that gives him new power over Disney, effectively punishing the entertainment giant for speaking out against the Republican’s political agenda.
The new law amounts to a state takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the government body that has given Disney unique powers in Central Florida for more than half a century. It allows the governor to replace the district’s existing board – mostly people with ties to Disney – with a five-member body that he hand-picks.
“Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” DeSantis said Monday at a Reedy Creek fire station in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. “There’s a new sheriff in town and accountability will be the order of the day.”
DeSantis announced his appointments to the reconstructed board, including Martin Garcia, a Tampa lawyer and prolific Republican donor whose private investment firm contributed $50,000 to DeSantis’ reelection, and Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota County School Board member who was a co-founder of the conservative organization Moms for Liberty and the wife of Christian Ziegler, the new chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.
CONTINUE > https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/politics/desantis-disney-reedy-creek/index.html
