Death by DeSantis

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Didn’t this multinational corporation vow to reverse the parental rights in education bill, that a large majority approved of?
Whether or not that can be characterized as parental rights, and whether or not it undermines the interests of the majority are items of public debate. Disney and all others are free to weigh in on those issues and all others. Disagreeing with the governor does not in itself undermine anyone's interests.
 
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Pilgrim

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Didn’t this multinational corporation vow to reverse the parental rights in education bill, that a large majority approved of?
That's exactly what they did. They were very vocal about it at the urging of their woke CA management kowtowing to the howling from a woke minority of Disney employees. There is no grey area in this parental rights issue; it's tremendously popular in FL and at the national level as well. Click on the "recent poll" link below (it's a PDF) to see the details. Democrat voters nationwide favored the bill by 55-29%; parents were in favor 67-24%. Time will tell how much this will cost Disney, but they're not in a good place with the public as the country enters a recession.

"Nevertheless, as the media continue to spread activist lies, Americans presented with the bill’s actual language support its provisions by a two-to-one margin. A recent poll by Public Opinion Strategies found that 61 percent of people said they supported the law, compared with 26 percent who opposed it. The bill also gained the support of 55 percent of Democrats."
 
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muttly

Veteran Expediter
That's exactly what they did. They were very vocal about it at the urging of their woke CA management kowtowing to the howling from a woke minority of Disney employees. There is no grey area in this parental rights issue; it's tremendously popular in FL and at the national level as well. Click on the "recent poll" link below (it's a PDF) to see the details. Democrat voters nationwide favored the bill by 55-29%; parents were in favor 67-24%. Time will tell how much this will cost Disney, but they're not in a good place with the public as the country enters a recession.

"Nevertheless, as the media continue to spread activist lies, Americans presented with the bill’s actual language support its provisions by a two-to-one margin. A recent poll by Public Opinion Strategies found that 61 percent of people said they supported the law, compared with 26 percent who opposed it. The bill also gained the support of 55 percent of Democrats."
Interesting. So not only is this large multinational company Disney disagreeing with the Governor of Florida, they are also disagreeing with a majority of Floridians that are also their customers.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
He has no control over insurance.....hes just a governor.
Insurance is a highly regulated industry that must be licensed by the state to even do business in Florida. Insurance laws are passed by the legislature and signed by the governor. The state regulators who oversee the insurance companies are part of the executive branch and therefore under DeSantis's direct control. Given that the FL legislature is Republican dominated and very willing to adopt the bills DeSantis wants adopted, he has near total control over the insurance companies in Florida.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Much remains unknown after DeSantis and the FL state legislature dissolved the Reedy Creek District.

"The Legislature did not conduct an economic study on the ramifications of dissolving the district. Legislators spent only two days examining the bill, unveiled on Tuesday, providing little opportunity for public input.

Not even the bill’s sponsors — Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, and Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay — could provide the intricate details of how Reedy Creek would be dissolved, saying the matter will be hammered out in the next year."
(Source)

DeSantis is now saying the State of FL could take over the Reedy Creek financial district. That will require legislative action and somehow making it through the expected court challenges. But let's assume that magically happens. The practical result will be as follows:

1. Disney is paying taxes and honoring its Reedy Creek bond debt now. Those taxes and that debt support all the municipal and first-responder services that serve the Disney World theme park now.

2. If a state entity replaces the Reedy Creek entity as DeSantis proposes, Disney will pay taxes and honor bond debt then. Net result: No change for Disney.

Except that if the state starts running Disney's fire departments and municipal services, it is highly unlikely that the transition will be easy.

Look at it this way. In your city, you have fire, water and street departments now. And say, for the purposes of discussion that these services are extremely well provided by competent department heads and workers. Do you think you will be better served and the quality of your services will remain unchanged if that state takes over those operations, and all employees become state employees, and all local policy changes must be made by state administrators?
 
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ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Regarding what financial impact, if any, Desantis's anti-Disney actions are having, note the following:

"Investors were delighted with the addition of 7.9 million Disney+ subscribers in the 2022 fiscal second quarter (ended April 2), and the company is following through on its plans to add subscribers globally. It's on track to reach its goal of 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024 as it continues launching in new regions.

"It also saw progress on many other fronts in the second quarter. Revenue increased 23% year over year, topping $19 billion. The parks and experiences segment more than doubled revenue as people are coming back, so much so that per-capita spending at domestic parks increased 40% as compared with 2019. The company is investing in new rides to attract visitors and stay at the top of its game.

"It's also investing in new content for streaming as well as strategically allocating resources to make the most of its various channels, including television, theater production, and streaming channels. Its unmatched library and creative team provide it with leverage to generate lots of high-quality content fill these channels for many years."
(Source)
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
I'm not sure what point you're making by posting that link. Having now read a few reports, there is no connection reported between Peter Rice, the executive in question, and DeSantis or Disney's controversial LGBTQ statements. In a corporation that size, executives come and go for various reasons. This personnel change seems to have more to do with the Rice getting the boot because he was building a fiefdom in the company instead of playing nice with others.

"Based on feedback from other Disney employees, the CEO made the decision Rice didn’t work collaboratively with others and was more interested in controlling his own fiefdom, the person said. [CEO] Chapek also felt Walden [the replacement executive] excelled in working with others, the person said." (Source)

Disney stock is down 34% year to date but that has little to do with the DeSantis feud. The stock market itself is teetering near bear territory. Because Disney is so diversified and has a worldwide footprint, it's hard to directly identify and compare competing companies. That said, the following companies have some competitive overlap: Netflix is down 68% YTD. Comcast (owns Universal) is down 17%. Six Flags down 34%. Carnival (cruise lines) down 45%.

Other than the ousted executive and Geoff Morrell, who previously resigned, the leadership team that was in place a year ago remains in place and clearly enjoys the full support of the Disney board of directors. The abrupt Morrell resignation was directly related to the DeSantis dust-up, but that happened months ago. That story is here.

Regarding the status of the Reedy Creek special district, the new law has not yet gone into effect. It's business as usual for now and will be for some time. There have been a couple of citizen-initiated lawsuits filed in response to the law that abolished the district. I'm not sure how significant they may turn out to be

Disney has a strong legal case to make in its favor, but it has yet to file anything official in court.
 
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coalminer

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter

This is a dumb idea all around, most of that 25 cent tax reduction for the month will go right into the pockets of the greedy oil company executives, I guarantee October 1st the price of gas will not drop the 25 cents. Maybe then will people here in Florida realize who really is to blame for the high prices.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter

This is a dumb idea all around, most of that 25 cent tax reduction for the month will go right into the pockets of the greedy oil company executives, I guarantee October 1st the price of gas will not drop the 25 cents. Maybe then will people here in Florida realize who really is to blame for the high prices.
He wanted more months (5), which would have been better than the one month agreed to by the legislature.
 

coalminer

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
He wanted more months (5), which would have been better than the one month agreed to by the legislature.
True, but in the end its just going to be more profit for the oil companies, the general public isnt going to benefit.
 

Pilgrim

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter

This is a dumb idea all around, most of that 25 cent tax reduction for the month will go right into the pockets of the greedy oil company executives, I guarantee October 1st the price of gas will not drop the 25 cents. Maybe then will people here in Florida realize who really is to blame for the high prices.
Biden also likes this idea, and is proposing a federal gas tax "holiday" of $.18/gal for three months. Will this also go into the pockets of "greedy oil company executives"?
 
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