DeSantis and FL moving to hammer Disney

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weather wise, it's not the best but doesn't Disney still own land somewhere nearby? I thought decades ago they had a master plan to build some type of park here but they were turned down.

Yes, Disney’s America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney%27s_America

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This should make everyone afraid, regardless of party affiliation. A company disagrees with a politician on a [insert description here] issue and within weeks has a 50+ year deal revoked. That doesn't scare the crap out of you people???

Only because DiSantis is showing how authoritarian the GOP is.

People need to wake up and vote.

Oh, they definitely will be voting in November

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is hilarious DeSantis is now a 'fascist' for punishing a corporation that literally supports fascists in China, edits out diversity in its films to appease fascists in China, and makes tons of money in a fascist police state like China..

I think it's hilarious that a R is curtailing free speech by a private company and being business un-friendly.

+1 It’s particularly strange since a year ago DeSantis allowed Disney to mandate masks when no one else in the state was allowed to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Raising taxes on your constituents to own the libs.

And he forgets that Disney has studios that can produce top quality documentaries and advertisements. It won’t be long before Disney tells it’s side of the story to all of Florida. This action by DeSantis seems to be a knee jerk action and not well thought out. In five years he will be largely forgotten in politics.

Oh, I think in five years he may be president

How right you are!

He won’t win the popular vote and we may face another violent insurrection when he insists that he has - just like a chip off the fascist block.

What would happen if a fascist leader took over? Would the country go on a national strike? my and CA leave the union? Millions of rednecks with guns threaten people? Or life as usual with obvious changes?

Look to Hungary, Belarus and Syria for clues …DCUM would be shut down for starters … for early starters … eventually two term limit would be revoked indefinitely, opponents silenced, and populist that lend a patina of conservative morality (anti gay and anti abortion) while highly immoral laws consolidating fascist power are enacted …

And people with entrepreneurial spirit and strong business sense will hide in the shadows because the best way to get yourself killed in a fascist, authoritarian state is to be noticed. This will dive GDP and GDP per capita down down down.

Yes exactly - intellectuals, creatives and entrepreneurs will live diminished lives in order to survive … in a fascist state …

And I think we’re seeing this play out in real time in Ukraine as Russia’s military struggles to keep up with western innovations.

[Anonymous]

So sick of all this.
1. Disney should not be getting special tax treatment.
2. The law is quite reasonable. There is absolutely no reason to be discussing sex/sexuality with kids younger than third grade in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So sick of all this.
1. Disney should not be getting special tax treatment.
2. The law is quite reasonable. There is absolutely no reason to be discussing sex/sexuality with kids younger than third grade in school.

1. they don't
2. that isn't what it says. omg

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This should make everyone afraid, regardless of party affiliation. A company disagrees with a politician on a [insert description here] issue and within weeks has a 50+ year deal revoked. That doesn't scare the crap out of you people???

So now you are ok with big companies getting tax breaks? Everyone was all for taxing them before. Which is it? Companies need to pay their fair share, or the breaks are good?

Just stop it with the "tax breaks". There are no tax breaks. Disney pays more taxes to the state of Florida than any other entity in the state. They are biggest tax revenue for the state, bigger than any other part of the huge tourism industry.

And even if they were getting tax breaks, the law that was just past has nothing to do with taxes. It is about the creation and dissolution of special districts. In this case, a special district was created for the Walt Disney World land unit essentially setting it up like a local township or county. There are no tax breaks involved. Reedy Creek Improvement District allows Disney to manage the properties like a town, they have their own internal security (instead of police), they have fire and emergency services, they run a health clinic which is like a large Urgent Care facility and the medical services are administered by AdventHealth which is the group that maintains many of the hospitals in the greater Orlando region. They handle traffic, roadways, infrastructure, public transit, trash, utilities including water and sewage. Disney covers all of that without taxing any of the county residents or the <100 residents of the RDIC (Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake communities).

Now, if RDIC is dissolved, the two counties, Orange and Osceola will then become responsible for providing all of those services to WDW. The counties are going to have to create a tax structure to tax the corporation for services, then they are going to have to create the infrastructure to start providing all of those services or take over the management of the facilities that WDW already owns and maintains. If they take over the existing facilities, they are going to have to come up with contracts to cover renting and leasing the facilities. And they are going to have to start providing services to the company immediately. Additionally, they are going to have the create the bureaucracy to administer and manage all of the above and permitting, inspection, review of all existing and future construction.

It's been estimated that it will cost about $2200-2800 per county resident in the two counties to cover the costs of assuming all of that infrastructure. Even if they start to tax WDW for the services, with the renting and leasing of Disney facilities, it is still going to cost the residents of the county a lot of money to provide all of the services. They will be lucky if they can create a tax structure that will halve the increased costs to the county residences for Disney. And they are going to need to create all of that and get things in place by summer 2023 (about 15-16 months) before the new law takes effect. These two counties are going to be destroyed and county residents are going to have to put up with a complete breakdown of county services as the country tries to get things under control in time.

As I posted above, this is not going to happen. Disney will be able to get legal injunctions to stop the enforcement of the new law. But if you think this is in any way good for the state, state residents, counties or county residents, you just don't have any idea what just happened. The only ones who will reap any gain from this are politicians who have fleeced their constituents into thinking this was good. Financially this is horrible for the state.

Why would Disney block this? Is it bad for Disney?

Yes. Disney makes decisions on how to handle all of the administration from a purely business/profit standpoint. They provide all those services and they do so at far higher standards that the local counties and state require. This way they give a better experience and continue to keep their standards high. If the administration reverted back to the counties, the counties would do things to cost rather than to the higher standards. The counties already cannot afford to provide services and would not be able to maintain the standards that Disney maintains. Quality would go way down and Disney would have a problem maintaining the experience that has made them the go-to vacation destination in the nation. Additionally, as a special district they can do things to a timetable that they set themselves. If control reverts back to the county, you would add huge layers of bureaucratic red tape to any type of development and infrastructure. Think of it this way. When Disney decides to make renovations to the parks or build new facilities, they get to set the timetable. If you want to add an addition to your house, how much control do you and your contractors have on the timetable? In most construction, the biggest limitations on time are applications, permits, inspections, etc. All government red tape designed to document everything that goes on. Right? Add those costs in and Disney deciding to open a new park or hotel or renovate features and suddenly instead of 2-5 years, it will be 8-10 years to get things done. It would be horrible for their business model if services were dropped to the most costly solutions and if they were forced to have to abide by local bureaucracy to get everything done. And they can't just throw money at a problem. Now, if things aren't moving fast enough, throw money at the problem and resolve issues right away and get back on schedule. Add in government bureaucracy and you're suddenly slowed to a snail's pace and everything is out of your hands and control.

The combination of loss of higher standards and worse, the time added for bureaucratic red tape would be horrific for Disney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This should make everyone afraid, regardless of party affiliation. A company disagrees with a politician on a [insert description here] issue and within weeks has a 50+ year deal revoked. That doesn't scare the crap out of you people???

So now you are ok with big companies getting tax breaks? Everyone was all for taxing them before. Which is it? Companies need to pay their fair share, or the breaks are good?

Just stop it with the "tax breaks". There are no tax breaks. Disney pays more taxes to the state of Florida than any other entity in the state. They are biggest tax revenue for the state, bigger than any other part of the huge tourism industry.

And even if they were getting tax breaks, the law that was just past has nothing to do with taxes. It is about the creation and dissolution of special districts. In this case, a special district was created for the Walt Disney World land unit essentially setting it up like a local township or county. There are no tax breaks involved. Reedy Creek Improvement District allows Disney to manage the properties like a town, they have their own internal security (instead of police), they have fire and emergency services, they run a health clinic which is like a large Urgent Care facility and the medical services are administered by AdventHealth which is the group that maintains many of the hospitals in the greater Orlando region. They handle traffic, roadways, infrastructure, public transit, trash, utilities including water and sewage. Disney covers all of that without taxing any of the county residents or the <100 residents of the RDIC (Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake communities).

Now, if RDIC is dissolved, the two counties, Orange and Osceola will then become responsible for providing all of those services to WDW. The counties are going to have to create a tax structure to tax the corporation for services, then they are going to have to create the infrastructure to start providing all of those services or take over the management of the facilities that WDW already owns and maintains. If they take over the existing facilities, they are going to have to come up with contracts to cover renting and leasing the facilities. And they are going to have to start providing services to the company immediately. Additionally, they are going to have the create the bureaucracy to administer and manage all of the above and permitting, inspection, review of all existing and future construction.

It's been estimated that it will cost about $2200-2800 per county resident in the two counties to cover the costs of assuming all of that infrastructure. Even if they start to tax WDW for the services, with the renting and leasing of Disney facilities, it is still going to cost the residents of the county a lot of money to provide all of the services. They will be lucky if they can create a tax structure that will halve the increased costs to the county residences for Disney. And they are going to need to create all of that and get things in place by summer 2023 (about 15-16 months) before the new law takes effect. These two counties are going to be destroyed and county residents are going to have to put up with a complete breakdown of county services as the country tries to get things under control in time.

As I posted above, this is not going to happen. Disney will be able to get legal injunctions to stop the enforcement of the new law. But if you think this is in any way good for the state, state residents, counties or county residents, you just don't have any idea what just happened. The only ones who will reap any gain from this are politicians who have fleeced their constituents into thinking this was good. Financially this is horrible for the state.

Why would Disney block this? Is it bad for Disney?

Yes. Disney makes decisions on how to handle all of the administration from a purely business/profit standpoint. They provide all those services and they do so at far higher standards that the local counties and state require. This way they give a better experience and continue to keep their standards high. If the administration reverted back to the counties, the counties would do things to cost rather than to the higher standards. The counties already cannot afford to provide services and would not be able to maintain the standards that Disney maintains. Quality would go way down and Disney would have a problem maintaining the experience that has made them the go-to vacation destination in the nation. Additionally, as a special district they can do things to a timetable that they set themselves. If control reverts back to the county, you would add huge layers of bureaucratic red tape to any type of development and infrastructure. Think of it this way. When Disney decides to make renovations to the parks or build new facilities, they get to set the timetable. If you want to add an addition to your house, how much control do you and your contractors have on the timetable? In most construction, the biggest limitations on time are applications, permits, inspections, etc. All government red tape designed to document everything that goes on. Right? Add those costs in and Disney deciding to open a new park or hotel or renovate features and suddenly instead of 2-5 years, it will be 8-10 years to get things done. It would be horrible for their business model if services were dropped to the most costly solutions and if they were forced to have to abide by local bureaucracy to get everything done. And they can't just throw money at a problem. Now, if things aren't moving fast enough, throw money at the problem and resolve issues right away and get back on schedule. Add in government bureaucracy and you're suddenly slowed to a snail's pace and everything is out of your hands and control.

The combination of loss of higher standards and worse, the time added for bureaucratic red tape would be horrific for Disney.

Time for Disney to start looking for a WDW 2.0.

I suggest Georgia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This should make everyone afraid, regardless of party affiliation. A company disagrees with a politician on a [insert description here] issue and within weeks has a 50+ year deal revoked. That doesn't scare the crap out of you people???

+1 This is a long but really good piece running down the speed of this and all the potential ramifications. The bill sponsor didn’t speak to Disney or any local or county officials before drafting it.

That's an excellent and thorough read. Thank you for posting.

Yes thank you for the article. I had assumed it was a crackpot culture wars move that would hurt Florida financially and bolster DeSantis national stage ambitions — but had no idea how truly cynical it is. Unlikely to survive legal challenges, or financial realities of Florida’s dependence on Disney, the bill will still serve to silence DeSantis corporate critics during the midterms. Great Fascist move Governor DeSantis.

“Disney is the state’s largest employer, with Walt Disney World employing nearly 80,000 people, with a payroll of over $3 billion, plus those employed by the Disney Cruise Line ships departing from Port Canaveral and Miami. Mickey is the multi-billion dollar fuel for the economic engine of the entire state; it’s the magnet that draws in visitors to other area attractions and hotels. We can avoid a state income tax largely because of hotel and sales taxes collected from the more than 100 million people who visit the Sunshine State each year.

HB 3C (along with an identical companion bill in the Florida Senate that passed on Wednesday) is a deceptively simple one-and-a-half page bill that eliminates independent special districts that were enacted before the 1968 Florida Constitution, unless the legislature moves to reauthorize them. That cutoff point just so happens to include RCID and five other much simpler special districts.

The bill essentially sets up a system of legislative blackmail with a short clause establishing that the included special districts would be “dissolved effective June 1, 2023” — in other words, after the upcoming midterm elections in which DeSantis and the Republican legislators sponsoring the bill are running for re-election and after the regular 2023 legislative session.

The legislature is “putting Disney on a leash,” as one Florida attorney Board Certified in Local Government Law told me, “so they better do what Ron DeSantis says, they better give to the PACs Ron DeSantis says, or else.” In his view, it was more egregious than immediately dissolving RCID, sending Disney the message that “if you do what we say [and stop criticizing HB 1557] then after session, we’ll quietly let you come back.”

The governor and his allies have characterized ending RCID as a justifiable blow against crony capitalism, but it’s a far cry from the multi-million dollar incentives handed out to build sports stadiums, instead comprising a grant of interwoven powers and responsibilities that would be excruciatingly difficult to unwind, assuming such an effort survived the likely legal challenges.”

In case the law didn’t make this clear, here’s the Lieutenant Governor just blurting it out on NewsMax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This should make everyone afraid, regardless of party affiliation. A company disagrees with a politician on a [insert description here] issue and within weeks has a 50+ year deal revoked. That doesn't scare the crap out of you people???

So now you are ok with big companies getting tax breaks? Everyone was all for taxing them before. Which is it? Companies need to pay their fair share, or the breaks are good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This should make everyone afraid, regardless of party affiliation. A company disagrees with a politician on a [insert description here] issue and within weeks has a 50+ year deal revoked. That doesn't scare the crap out of you people???

+1 This is a long but really good piece running down the speed of this and all the potential ramifications. The bill sponsor didn’t speak to Disney or any local or county officials before drafting it.

That's an excellent and thorough read. Thank you for posting.

Yes thank you for the article. I had assumed it was a crackpot culture wars move that would hurt Florida financially and bolster DeSantis national stage ambitions — but had no idea how truly cynical it is. Unlikely to survive legal challenges, or financial realities of Florida’s dependence on Disney, the bill will still serve to silence DeSantis corporate critics during the midterms. Great Fascist move Governor DeSantis.

“Disney is the state’s largest employer, with Walt Disney World employing nearly 80,000 people, with a payroll of over $3 billion, plus those employed by the Disney Cruise Line ships departing from Port Canaveral and Miami. Mickey is the multi-billion dollar fuel for the economic engine of the entire state; it’s the magnet that draws in visitors to other area attractions and hotels. We can avoid a state income tax largely because of hotel and sales taxes collected from the more than 100 million people who visit the Sunshine State each year.

HB 3C (along with an identical companion bill in the Florida Senate that passed on Wednesday) is a deceptively simple one-and-a-half page bill that eliminates independent special districts that were enacted before the 1968 Florida Constitution, unless the legislature moves to reauthorize them. That cutoff point just so happens to include RCID and five other much simpler special districts.

The bill essentially sets up a system of legislative blackmail with a short clause establishing that the included special districts would be “dissolved effective June 1, 2023” — in other words, after the upcoming midterm elections in which DeSantis and the Republican legislators sponsoring the bill are running for re-election and after the regular 2023 legislative session.

The legislature is “putting Disney on a leash,” as one Florida attorney Board Certified in Local Government Law told me, “so they better do what Ron DeSantis says, they better give to the PACs Ron DeSantis says, or else.” In his view, it was more egregious than immediately dissolving RCID, sending Disney the message that “if you do what we say [and stop criticizing HB 1557] then after session, we’ll quietly let you come back.”

The governor and his allies have characterized ending RCID as a justifiable blow against crony capitalism, but it’s a far cry from the multi-million dollar incentives handed out to build sports stadiums, instead comprising a grant of interwoven powers and responsibilities that would be excruciatingly difficult to unwind, assuming such an effort survived the likely legal challenges.”

In case the law didn’t make this clear, here’s the Lieutenant Governor just blurting it out on NewsMax.

Disney shouldn’t have much trouble in proving infringement now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So sick of all this.
1. Disney should not be getting special tax treatment.
2. The law is quite reasonable. There is absolutely no reason to be discussing sex/sexuality with kids younger than third grade in school.

1. they don't
2. that isn't what it says. omg

Plus one.

Po is calling a spade a drinking straw (for slurping up the cool aid presumably)

[Anonymous]

It doesn't kick in until Summer 2023. This is just a politcal gambit to keep his name in the news for when he decides to run for President. It will not happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So sick of all this.
1. Disney should not be getting special tax treatment.
2. The law is quite reasonable. There is absolutely no reason to be discussing sex/sexuality with kids younger than third grade in school.

Correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't kick in until Summer 2023. This is just a politcal gambit to keep his name in the news for when he decides to run for President. It will not happen.

That allows plenty of time for Disney to file a lawsuit.