Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has just signed a law that will put Disney World under state control.
The 44-year-old signed the bill on Monday (February 27) after the company continued to support the "Don't Say Gay" law, CBS News reports.
According to the outlet, DeSantis is set to appoint a board of five members to oversee the government services provided by the Disney district in its Florida theme park properties.
At a bill signing ceremony in Lake Buena Vista the Republican politician stated: "Today the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end. There's a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day."
The Disney takeover began last year after the theme park cemented their stance on the "Don't Say Gay" law which reads: "Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."
Evidently, DeSantis was unhappy with this as he swiftly penalized the company, and began working to dissolve Disney's self-governing district. Many Republican politicians, including DeSantis, criticized the company for going against the "Don't Say Gay" law, calling it "a purveyor of 'woke' ideology that inject inappropriate subjects into children's entertainment," per CBS.
They even accused Disney of choosing "the wrong side of the moral argument," with DeSantis adding (via Reuters): "We have a situation here that was basically indefensible from a policy perspective. How do you give one theme park its own government and then treat all the other theme parks differently? We believe that that was not good policy."
Disney has effectively acted as a self-governing area in Florida's Reedy Creek Improvement district - even controlling utilities and a local fire department. BBC News notes that this arguably saved taxpayers from the hefty costs required to maintain the 43 sq miles of theme park that sees millions of annual visitors.
DeSantis' new bill ensures that Disney will be treated the same as other Orlando theme parks, and will no longer be exempt from certain state regulations.
The state Governor eventually admitted that there were no hard feelings between himself and Mickey Mouse, stating on Monday: "In spite of all the stuff that's happened over the past couple of years, I've always been very proud of our parks. It's almost like a rite of passage for people to be able to come down here, and a lot of families have had really great experiences... but when you lose your way, you've got to have people who can tell you the truth."
