Florida Man Lawsuit: DeSantis’ War on Disney Is Unconstitutionally Raising My Taxes – By Christian Britschgi (Reason) / May 6, 2022
Three state residents argue a new state law eliminating Disney’s self-governing status unfairly makes taxpayers responsible for over $1 billion of the company’s debt.
Three Florida residents claim in a new lawsuit that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war with Disney over the state’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law is unconstitutionally raising their taxes.
The latest shot in that war happened in late April when DeSantis signed into law a bill dissolving Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District—a self-governing entity that gave the company the power to levy taxes and set their own land-use regulations on 25,000 acres in and around its Disney World theme park.
Those are some sweeping powers given to Disney by the Florida state government—powers DeSantis has argued are not justified given the company’s opposition to the law that limits discussion of sexual orientation in public schools.
“I’m just thinking to myself, you’re a corporation based in Burbank, California, and you’re going to marshal your economic might to attack the parents of my state,” said DeSantis when signing the bill eliminating the Reedy Creek district. “We view that as a provocation, and we’re going to fight back against that.”
