skews13
Diamond Member
- Mar 18, 2017
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If you’re into combatting wokeness, the imaginary villain that haunts Republican fever dreams, then Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is your superhero du jour. He took on Woke Disney and won! He flew migrants to Woke Martha's Vineyard and owned the libs! He singlehandedly de-woke-ified the Woke College Board’s planned AP African American studies course!
The mighty DeSantis is surely the Anti-Woke Warrior conservative America needs, right?
Turns out that just doing away with Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District – which put the company in control of the sprawling area it inhabits – would force taxpayers in surrounding counties to shoulder the costs of running the Disney-occupied area (think emergency services, road repairs etc.) and take on the special tax district’s roughly $1 billion in debt.
So the Florida Legislature that does DeSantis’ bidding swooped into a special session this month to clean up the governor’s mess. Lawmakers passed a new bill that lets DeSantis pick who sits on the Disney tax district’s board.
As The New York Times reported: “This time, Disney would be allowed to keep the special tax district – which never went away – and almost all its perks, including the ability to issue tax-exempt bonds and approve development plans without scrutiny from certain local regulators.”
So … DeSantis stuck it to woke Disney by taking control of the board that oversees the company’s special tax district while leaving all the perks and tax breaks in place.
The bill’s sponsor in the House, Republican Rep. Fred Hawkins, was asked how it changes anything happening in the district and said: “That I can’t answer.”
Even some conservatives saw through DeSantis’ fake victory. Anthony Sabatini, chairman of the Lake County Republican Party in Florida tweeted: “So basically Woke Disney gets to keep its nearly tax-free, regulation-free status—but with a different Board. … What a massive capitulation this is. HUGE win for Woke Disney. BIG loss for conservatives.”
Disney will still give him a discount on tickets.
The mighty DeSantis is surely the Anti-Woke Warrior conservative America needs, right?
Turns out that just doing away with Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District – which put the company in control of the sprawling area it inhabits – would force taxpayers in surrounding counties to shoulder the costs of running the Disney-occupied area (think emergency services, road repairs etc.) and take on the special tax district’s roughly $1 billion in debt.
So the Florida Legislature that does DeSantis’ bidding swooped into a special session this month to clean up the governor’s mess. Lawmakers passed a new bill that lets DeSantis pick who sits on the Disney tax district’s board.
As The New York Times reported: “This time, Disney would be allowed to keep the special tax district – which never went away – and almost all its perks, including the ability to issue tax-exempt bonds and approve development plans without scrutiny from certain local regulators.”
So … DeSantis stuck it to woke Disney by taking control of the board that oversees the company’s special tax district while leaving all the perks and tax breaks in place.
The bill’s sponsor in the House, Republican Rep. Fred Hawkins, was asked how it changes anything happening in the district and said: “That I can’t answer.”
Even some conservatives saw through DeSantis’ fake victory. Anthony Sabatini, chairman of the Lake County Republican Party in Florida tweeted: “So basically Woke Disney gets to keep its nearly tax-free, regulation-free status—but with a different Board. … What a massive capitulation this is. HUGE win for Woke Disney. BIG loss for conservatives.”
Disney will still give him a discount on tickets.
