The Florida Legislature has voted to repeal a statute that created a special government district (the Reedy Creek Improvement District) that it had set up in 1967 for Disney, and the Governor is apparently set to sign it. To quote the New York Times (Brooks Barnes),
[The district] was put together in 1967 and essentially allows the megaresort, which employs roughly 80,000 people, to function as its own municipal government…. [The district] gives the company considerable control over the planning and permitting process for construction on its 25,000-acre property, including road building. Reedy Creek also levies taxes on Disney to pay for the resort's own fire and medical response battalions, among other services. Disney World even generates some of its own electricity through Reedy Creek.
The reason for the repeal appears to be Disney's prominent opposition to the Florida law that restricts "classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity … in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards." Is it constitutional for Florida to do this?
