Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed back against fellow Republicans’ opposition to ending Disney’s self-governing status and special privileges.
DeSantis made the announcement Monday that he had ended Disney’s self-governing status, originally implemented through the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement District. Some Republicans have argued that Florida moved beyond the scope of limited government by interfering with a private corporation’s tax authority.
“Is it free market economics to have a corporation run its own government and be exempt from laws and be treated better than all its competitors? Of course not,” the governor said Tuesday. “That’s corporate welfare and so this was something that had really embedded in Florida’s DNA because Disney was so powerful for many decades. Nobody even questioned this and basically Disney ran the show in this state for a long time until I became governor and we said ‘you know, we’re gonna side with the people of Florida, we’re not gonna kowtow to a woke company based in Burbank, California.’”
“But make no mistake about it, we have a more competitive market today than we did when they were operating their own government and enjoying those special privileges,” he continued.
The governor signed legislation in April to revoke Disney’s special administrative and tax privileges over his conflict with the corporation over a parental rights law that prohibits discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade classrooms. (RELATED: GOP Governor Larry Hogan Calls Florida’s Parental Rights Bill ‘Absurd’)
Former Vice President Mike Pence told CNBC Wednesday that the governor expanded the power of the government by signing the legislation, known as HB 9-B.
“I fully supported Florida’s initiative to protect kids and protect parental rights,” Pence said. “I have concerns about the follow up … Disney stepped into the fray and lost … but the idea of going after their taxing authority … that was beyond the scope of what I as a conservative limited government Republican would be prepared to do.”
Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson made a similar argument, saying “I don’t believe that government should be punitive against private businesses because we disagree with them.”