(RepublicanDaily.org) – While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says it is time to “move forward” in his tiff with entertainment conglomerate Disney, it seems his minions in the newly-established Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) are not, and have targeted even the perks and benefits Disney offers its own employees.
According to the CFTOD, whose board members are all governor-appointed, said that the perks the company provides its employees, such as free tickets and passes, could be “some indication of self-dealing” resulting in lost revenue to the state in the form of taxes, among other things.
However, some commentators have pointed out that the company still pays taxes on the free tickets it gives to its employees.
“Who pays taxes to the district? Disney, that’s who,” Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik wrote recently.
DeSantis and Disney initially butted heads over the passing of what far-left commentators inaccurately called Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. The law merely banned Florida schools from teaching kindergarteners through third graders about sexual education topics, including any topics about “gender identity.” It did not mention the words gay or straight, nor did it bar teachers from ever referencing the fact that gay people exist.
Disney initially wanted to stay out of the issue, but felt forced to address it following walkouts from employees from different offices around the country. The Florida governor retaliated by forming the CFTOD, which replaced the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), which was run by a Disney-appointed board since it was created in 1967. In the few months since it was put up, the CFTOD has cut the law enforcement budget for the park, and cancelled all of Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and programs in the state, calling them “illegal and simply un-American.”
In response to this, Disney sued DeSantis and the state of Florida, alleging that the governor was weaponizing the law to silence voices that disagreed with him. The House of Mouse also scrapped a planned $1 billion development in Florida that would have seen thousands of jobs moved to the state, as well as significant economic benefits to the area.
DeSantis has drawn flak for the continued feud with Disney, including from Republicans, who have warned that the tiff could be “severely damaging” to Florida’s “political, social, and economic fabric.”
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