Disney hasn’t been attacked. They are untouched.

Fixed it for you!

🇨🇮

We've already tackled the "Free Speech" angle to this narrative.

http://www.cigarbid.com/Forum/c/posts/m/4661929/DeSantis-vs-Disney#post4661929 [/color][/i]


Pretty sure the thing...you know the thing, was put into motion by a bunch of guys that recently removed the yoke of Tyranny from their necks and wanted protections for citizens from government. Last thing they could've ever imagined were corporations behaving like federal agencies and government protecting bad actors and laws.

I don't think that is the right legal analysis. But, I could be dead wrong. Disney's property, no matter how titled, makes Disney, at least, its beneficial owner.

Giving Disney special status (Reedy Creek), regardless of its fairness when compared to other businesses/theme parks, was a business decision agreed to in writing by Disney and the state, whether by contract or not, that Disney had a reasonable right to rely on in its past and future business dealings.

Detrimental reliance is a defense to the claim of no binding or improper agreement/contract. All it requires is reasonableness.

Unilateral, direct, retaliatory changes to an agreement by a governmental body is unconstitutional.


(Nikki Haley has already offered to help Disney out if it wants to start up anything in her state. So will many other states...)



(amended)

RCID was created by the state legislature. It wasn’t given to Disney. It’s not Disney property. It is a governing body. Disney did not sign any agreement.

The Reedy Creek Improvement Act, otherwise known as House Bill No. 486,[1] was a law introduced and passed in the U.S. state of Florida in 1967 which established the area surrounding the Walt Disney World Resort (the Reedy Creek Improvement District) as its own governmental authority, granting it the same authority and responsibilities as a county government.

I look forward to Disney bulldozing the parks and selling off the land for housing.

The problem they will have in all other states is the weather! Maybe global warming will help with an all-season park elsewhere.

They could always move to SoCal... maybe carve out a spot by Disney Land?

The "Free Speech Angle" is not a Narrative... the Gov in his own words said on tape that all of this is happening BECAUSE of Disney speaking out... ALL of it is based on that free speech. In the end Disney will live on, Disney will prosper.

DeSantis would like the have an recording play at all of the Florida airports:

"Welcome to Florida. Please remember to set your watch back 200 years.."

Look, governments make long-term, sweetheart-deals with corporations all the time- to entice their business away from others/elsewhere, and to generally increase prosperity for towns, cities, counties and states. Think... tax breaks promised for building a major local Amazon distribution warehouse or tax concessions for a huge auto plant. It is completely and openly the norm.

I have read the 90 or so page bill signed by the governor over like 50 years ago. In the one FSC case I read so far, Florida v. Disney, the FSC adamantly rejected Florida's challenges to the constitutionally of the law and found that the unique community needs and benefits were a fair bargain for both parties for multiple reasons.

Unless the State can win a stunningly rare total dismissal up front, this case could drag on for years and years. It could even have the potential to ultimately be heard by SCOTUS. But, I still have to read Disney's Complaint...

Disney will be willing to spend tens (or more) of millions of dollars and has the very sharpest lawyers in this fight by a long, long mile. This is going to cost taxpayers a hell of a lot of money.

For what?

This should be settled out of court so that neither Disney nor DeSantis get too much egg on their faces together. The worst Disney's settlement will be is to reinstitute Reedy Creek control and then phase it out over an agreed upon time- so that it can adjust to changes in its business plans for any changes that may be coming.

Liquidate RCID. It’s balance sheet shows it’s assets worth more than its debt.

Sorry, you didn't read and comprehend what Disney had said and done to prompt the removal of their charter.

Henny Penny the sky is not going to fall out. Just like you and everyone else in the 2 counties didn't receive a 300K+ tax property bill.

Stop reading the NYT for Christ's sake and switch to decaf!

I heard sharpie corporate lawyers like Disney has always cost taxpayers a hell of a lot of money because all they really care about is getting some.

A timeline of the DeSantis-Disney feud



Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has been at loggerheads with the Walt Disney Company for more than a year over a controversial bill. Here’s how it developed.

The Walt Disney Co. is suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), accusing him of violating the entertainment giant’s constitutional rights, teeing up a contentious court battle between two of Florida’s power centers.

It’s the latest skirmish in an ongoing dispute between the Walt Disney World Resort’s corporate parent and the state’s conservative governor. For more than a year, Disney has openly opposed Republican-imposed restrictions against covering issues like homosexuality and gender identity in public schools. DeSantis, meanwhile, has criticized Disney as a “woke corporation” while working with the legislature to limit its power.

Here are the major events leading up to Disney’s lawsuit.

January 2022
State lawmakers on Jan. 11 introduced HB 1557, officially called the Parental Rights in Education bill, which prohibits lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools through the third grade. Critics quickly took to calling it the “Don’t say gay” bill.

March 2022
March 3: Protestors gathered at theme parks in Florida and California to protest Disney’s failure to publicly oppose the law, according to a local CBS affiliate.
March 8: Florida state senators voted 22-17 in favor of HB 1557, sending it to DeSantis for his approval.
March 9: Disney CEO Bob Chapek told the company’s annual shareholder meeting that he called DeSantis “to express the company’s disappointment and concern that the legislation, if enacted, could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, nonbinary, and transgender kids and families.” The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, wasn’t satisfied with Chapek’s statement and rejected a donation from Disney. “This should be the beginning of Disney’s advocacy efforts rather than the end,” HRC’s interim president Joni Madison said in a release.
March 10: DeSantis criticized Chapek’s decision to speak out, and vowed to move forward with the education restrictions. “In Florida, our policies are going to be based on the interests of Florida citizens, not on the musings of woke corporations,” DeSantis said, according to the local news station WESH Channel 2.
March 28: DeSantis signed the bill into law. In response, Disney issued a sharper statement opposing it, saying “our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts.”

State lawmakers on April 21 passed legislation dissolving the Reedy Creek special district that has allowed Disney to largely govern its own affairs in Walt Disney World and the surrounding area. DeSantis signed the bill the next day even as local officials raised concerns that the move would create a “debt bomb” catastrophic for local taxpayers. “If you dissolved Reedy Creek, that $105 million in revenue literally goes away, it doesn’t get transferred,” Orange County tax collector Scott Randolph told CNBC at the time.

May
Taxpayers from the area around Disney World filed a complaint May 16 in federal court against DeSantis, expressing concerns about debt and political retaliation, according to Disney Food Blog, a local website that has closely followed the dispute. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

November
Former CEO Bob Iger reassumed control of Disney on Nov. 20. In a media appearance soon after his return, Iger said he “was sorry to see [Disney] dragged into that battle.” Iger also emphasized that Florida and Disney have been mutually important to each other for a long time.

February 2023
Feb. 6: In a special session of the legislature, Republican lawmakers propose a bill renaming the Reedy Creek district as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and stipulating that board members should be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.
Feb. 8: In one of their last acts before DeSantis’s appointees took over, the outgoing Reedy Creek supervisors — all chosen by Disney — signed a new agreement with the company that stripped the board of power and handed significant authority directly to Disney. The move took place with no fanfare at the time, although the company later said that legal requirements were met for public notices before the meeting.
Feb. 27: DeSantis signed legislation that overhauls and renames the special district and packs it with DeSantis donors and conservative activists.

March 2023
March 29: The special district’s DeSantis-appointed board announced it only learned of the new Disney agreement weeks after the deal was approved. The new board decried the move as an illegal act and retained several law firms to look for holes in the agreement.

April 2023
April 3: DeSantis called for a state investigation into the development agreement, and Iger criticized DeSantis as “anti-business” and “anti-Florida” during a meeting with Disney shareholders.
April 17: DeSantis announced additional measures against Disney, including legislation to nullify the development agreement and subject Disney to outside safety inspectors. He also floated other possible actions, such as raising taxes, adding tolls, building a prison next to Disney World, or building a non-Disney theme park nearby.
April 26: The board declared Disney’s agreement null and void. Disney files suit the same day.

Disney CEO blasts DeSantis, saying fight is about one thing: retaliation

“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes — or not?” the CEO said.


Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE — Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger on Wednesday accused Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida GOP legislators of misleading the public and singling out his company for “retaliation,” and made a veiled threat that the company’s investment in the state may be at stake.

“Our plans were to invest $17 billion over the next 10 years, which is what the state should want us to do,” Iger said during Disney’s second-quarter earnings call, referring to the previously announced investment in the past tense.

“We operate responsibly,” he continued. “We pay our fair share of taxes. We employ thousands of people and, by the way, we pay them above the minimum wage.” He added that the company’s employee benefits and wages are “substantially” higher than those dictated by the state and include paying all college tuition and fees for hourly employees in Florida.

Iger concluded: “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes — or not?”

The Disney chief’s statement came in response to a question from a financial analyst who suggested that the company was “stuck with this fight” with DeSantis over the future of the governing district that oversees Disney’s Orlando-area real estate and asked about the company’s “future risk.”

But if Iger and his colleagues at the entertainment giant are having second thoughts about their investment in Florida, none of the financial analysts on the call followed up.

DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern would not respond to requests for comment about Iger’s threat. He referred to the governor’s exclusive interview on Friday with the conservative website Newsmax instead.

The fight between DeSantis and Disney continues to escalate after legislators earlier this year authorized the governor to replace members of the Reedy Creek Improvement District governing board with his allies who do not live in the district.

The DeSantis board was renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and its first major decision was to void its contracts between Disney and the previous board, prompting the company to sue the state. The board counter-sued Disney last week.

On Wednesday, the board met again and appointed a new district administrator for the governing board, DeSantis ally Glenton Gilzean Jr., president of the Central Florida Urban League. The board voted to pay him $400,000, $45,000 more than his predecessor, John Classe, who was retained by the board as a special adviser.

The board also voted to create a new code enforcement system that will answer to the new administrator and have the authority to fine Walt Disney World for code violations of up to $500 a day. The company is known for taking meticulous care of its grounds and buildings.

Iger said Wednesday that Disney had enjoyed a “terrific relationship with the state for more than 50 years” and “never expected to be in the position of having to defend our business interests in federal court.”

But he indicated the company would continue its lawsuit because “this is about one thing and one thing only and that’s retaliating against us for taking a position about pending legislation.”

The conflict began last year after the company voiced its opposition to the bill known as the Parental Rights in Education Act, called the Don’t Say Gay bill by critics because of the chilling effect they said it would have on classroom speech relating to gender and sexual orientation. Legislators responded by passing a bill at the governor’s urging to dissolve Disney’s special taxing district by June of this year.

But that effort failed because it would have cost taxpayers more than $1 billion, so Republican leaders returned this year with a plan to instead replace the governing board controlled by Disney with one controlled by the governor.

Meanwhile, Disney had quietly lined up its legal options and used the last public meeting of the governing board in February to secure new development agreements that would freeze the pacts that were in place with the governing district for years to come.

When the governor’s appointees learned of the contracts between the company and the district, it voted to void them and legislators passed a bill to allow them to do it retroactively. Disney responded with a lawsuit, accusing the state of violating both its First Amendment and property rights.

“You can’t have a situation where the Legislature has spoken and one company just decides to contract out against the will of the people,” DeSantis said Friday in the Newsmax interview, given shortly before he signed the bill into law to allow the board to void the contracts. “At the end of the day, they just have to understand the party is over for them.”

The company on Monday amended its lawsuit to include the governor’s latest statements and actions.

“At the Governor’s bidding, the State’s oversight board has purported to ‘void’ publicly noticed and duly agreed development contracts, which had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs,” Disney said in its amended complaint.

“Days later, the State Legislature enacted and Governor DeSantis signed legislation rendering these contracts immediately void and unenforceable. These government actions were patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.”

DeSantis said that he was confident that the state would prevail in its lawsuit and also proclaimed victory over the company for silencing its opposition to the expansion of the Parental Rights in Education bill.

“They have not made a peep,” DeSantis boasted in the NewsMax interview. “That ultimately is the most important — that Disney is not allowed to pervert the system to the detriment of Florida.”

In his statement on Wednesday, Iger countered the governor’s repeated claims that Disney had been given special treatment in state law.

“This is not about special privileges, or a level playing field, or Disney in any way using its leverage around the state of Florida,” Iger said. “There are about 2,000 special districts in Florida and most were established to foster investment and development, where we were one of them. It basically made it easy for us and others, by the way, to do business in Florida.”

He named the Daytona Speedway’s special district and the district that governs the three-county retirement community in Central Florida known as The Villages.

In 1955, the Daytona Beach Racing & Recreational Facilities District was created to fund and build a race track in Daytona, and in 2014, the International Speedway Corp. and the Atlanta-based Jacoby Development were given the right to establish a community development district that has the power to collect tax dollars and sell tax-exempt bonds.

The Villages is governed by the Village Center Community Development District.

“If the goal is leveling the playing field, then a uniform application of the law of government oversight of special districts needs to occur and be applied to all special districts,” Iger said.

[h]Iger also countered the governor’s claim that Disney has been given special tax benefits as a result of its special district.

“There’s also a false narrative that we’ve been fighting to protect tax breaks as part of this,” he said. “But in fact, we’re the largest taxpayer in Central Florida — paying over $1.1 billion in state and local taxes last year alone and we pay more taxes, specifically more real estate taxes, as a result of that special district.”

Iger also countered the governor’s claim that the company was the beneficiary of “corporate welfare.”

“While it’s easy to say that the Reedy Creek Special District that was established for us over 50 years ago benefited us, it’s misleading to not also consider how much Disney benefited the state of Florida,” he said. Disney “employs over 75,000 people and attracts tens of millions of people to the state.”

DeSantis ally Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Beach, criticized Iger’s statements, suggesting the company’s powers were extraordinary.

“The arrogance of these California wokeists is breathtaking,” he wrote in a tweet.

Disney stock down 8.5% today.

Bob Iger #winning.

Maybe you ought to short it?
I only care about the park in my hometown.

I’m starting to think Disney is a “buy”.

Disney might want to reconsider their war with Florida.

I’m perfectly willing to negotiate a consulting contract with Disney to look into moving Walt Disney World to South Carolina. Come to Greenville, stay for the magic!

How Disney Comes Up With New Movie Ideas

Inside the Disney writers' room, the brains behind The House of Mouse are having trouble coming up with a movie idea that's not a remake or a woke piece o' garbage. Let's take a watch.