Orlando Paper Roasts “Spiteful” DeSantis On Disney Special District Takeover: He’s “Created A Giant Mess”

From the Orlando Sentinel editorial board:

Like many Floridians, including representatives of the Walt Disney Company itself, we’ve watched Gov. Ron DeSantis drive his legislative acolytes over the edge of a precipitous cliff as they pondered the fate of the special taxing district set up for Disney more than 50 years ago.

By the end of the brutish and pointless special session that wrapped up Friday, DeSantis and lawmakers clearly had at least an inkling of their folly. They’d been advised that they were potentially dragging the full faith and credit of the state government, and the economic well-being of thousands of Floridians, down with them.

When he announced his spiteful plan last March to abolish the Reedy Creek district , which lets Disney tax itself heavily to build the infrastructure that supports the world’s largest single-site tourism attraction and control functions such as permitting and municipal services, we were pretty sure that DeSantis had no comprehension of the giant mess he was creating.

Read the full editorial.

DeSantis wanted to punish Disney. Instead, he made a mess | Editorial https://t.co/xa1QnxjQJc pic.twitter.com/I4sJPeTpL6

— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) February 12, 2023