Florida Gov. DeSantis Wants To Punish Disney—But Won’t Go After Its Corporate Tax Breaks

Topline

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) continued to go after Disney on Friday over its opposition to the state’s Parental Rights In Education Act (known to critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law), saying he’s “receptive” to the state legislature revoking special privileges the company’s received—but he refused to go after the corporate tax breaks Disney gets from the state government.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 24 … [+] in Orlando, Florida.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Key Facts

DeSantis was asked at a press conference Friday about corporate tax breaks Disney receives from the state, including what the Orlando Sentinel reports could be up to $570 million in tax breaks for a new office complex the company is opening, as well as corporate tax refunds that the state is set to issue to companies in May.v

DeSantis said that while he’s in favor of the state taking away privileges that are unique to Disney, those tax breaks are ones “that any business would be eligible for,” and insisted there are “no special tax breaks that are Disney-specific that we would contemplate” taking away.

The Florida legislature “can certainly reevaluate [its corporate tax policies] as a whole,” DeSantis said, but added he would prefer “we just treat everybody equally” and not “let one company have their own set of rules compared to everybody else.”

Democratic lawmakers in Florida have suggested DeSantis and their Republican colleagues should go after Disney’s tax breaks—and the state’s corporate tax refunds as a whole—if they’re serious about cracking down on Disney’s benefits from the state.

DeSantis said he does support the legislature going after privileges that are “really unique to Disney,” such as repealing the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which established the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a tax district that lets Walt Disney World essentially operate as its own city outside the purview of the local government.

The governor said there’s a “whole host of stuff” the legislature could look at in relation to Disney and it was “up to them to decide,” but he thinks it’s “right to be looking at this and reevaluat[ing]

it.”

What We Don’t Know

How any efforts to punish Disney will actually play out. State Rep. Spencer Roach (R) tweeted Wednesday that legislators have met multiple times about the possibility of repealing the Reedy Creek Act, but whether they’ll follow through with doing so remains to be seen. While it’s currently paused its political donations in Florida, Disney wields significant influence in the state legislature, given the company’s significant economic impact in Florida—Walt Disney World is the largest single-site employer in the country and brings in millions in tourism revenue—and its extensive lobbying operation. It’s likely to flex that influence should the GOP actually try to threaten the Reedy Creek district, which would fundamentally shift how Walt Disney World operates by requiring the resort to get government approval for its operations. “If you didn’t have lobbying and you didn’t have a lot of influence, I think a lot of those things that have accumulated over the years would probably not be justifiable,” DeSantis said Friday about Disney.

Chief Critic

Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D), who’s been an outspoken critic of Florida’s corporate tax refunds, tweeted Friday that DeSantis’ claims Disney doesn’t receive any “special” tax benefits are “just not true.” Eskamani noted the tax break Disney is receiving for its new campus—which will bring 2,000 office jobs to Florida from California—was approved through a program that’s “ONLY for big businesses like Disney” and only applies to 1% of all Florida businesses. “I welcome legitimate conversations to stop corporate giveaways and treat EVERYONE the same,” Eskamani said.

Key Background

Florida Republicans have gone after Disney due to the company’s opposition to HB 1557, which bans school instruction on “sexual orientation or gender identity” through the third grade, and discussions about it in older grades if it’s “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” While Disney has been widely criticized for not initially publicly opposing the bill, the company came out against it after it had already passed the state legislature and paused its political donations after its past donations to the bill’s sponsors came under scrutiny. After DeSantis signed the bill into law, Disney came out with a sharp statement saying the bill “should never” have been passed and its “goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts.” That set off Republicans’ rage against Disney, with DeSantis saying the statement “crossed a line” and multiple Republican state lawmakers returning Disney’s donations to them in response.

Topline

Key Facts

What We Don’t Know

Chief Critic

Key Background

Further Reading