Florida moves to scrap Disney World's special regulatory status in the state

Florida moves to scrap¹ Disney World's special regulatory status in the state

Transcript²

Florida's legislature has voted to strip Disney's self-government — put in place decades ago. The move is a win for GOP Gov. DeSantis who has been in a public spat³ with the entertainment giant.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

You know, when I was a kid, our family sometimes would drive all night from Indiana to Disney World in Florida. We loved Disney, and we learned all sorts of facts about it, like that Disney is its own little country, has its own government under Florida law. Now, after generations, the Florida Legislature has voted to revoke⁴ that status. And the bill now goes to Governor Ron DeSantis. This is a culture war punishment. The government is cracking down on Disney after the company criticized Florida legislation. Danielle Prieur of member station WMFE in Orlando has looked into Disney's special status now at risk.

DANIELLE PRIEUR, BYLINE⁵: Basically, it has its own little mini government in an area known as the Reedy Creek⁶ Improvement District. And that's about a 25,000-acre area that includes all the theme parks and water parks and hotels and restaurants that we all love going to. And it controls everything in that area from water and policing and road maintenance to, you know, paying taxes and issuing bonds. So it has really complete autonomy. And that's allowed the company to expand over the years.

INSKEEP: Why would it be that after more than half a century, the Florida legislature would decide this is the moment to get rid of that?

PRIEUR: Yeah. So basically, it goes back to a few weeks ago, if you remember the Parental⁷ Rights in Education or what opponents have called the Don't Say Gay law here in Florida, which will restrict some conversations around gender⁸ identity and sexual orientation⁹ in the younger grades. When that was kind of being debated, Disney CEO Bob Chapek strongly opposed it. And in response, our governor, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, basically introduced the idea, we need to dissolve this special district now. And then this week, during the special session here in Florida, we saw the Republican-led legislature really support him in that. And the bill to dissolve the district moved relatively¹⁰ easily through the Florida Senate and now through the Florida House. And so the measure is now on the governor's desk, and he is expected to approve it by May 6.

INSKEEP: But let's figure this out. So they're punishing Disney for an opinion. They dissolved this special governing status. But doesn't that special district bring in tax revenue to local authorities?

PRIEUR: It does. And so now the problem is there's this huge windfall and about a billion dollars in debt that most experts say Orange County and Osceola County residents are going to have to make up for in their taxes. Steve, I was speaking with the Orange County tax collector, Scott Randolph, yesterday. And he said homeowners here could see property taxes jump by 20% to make up the difference. And even then, it probably wouldn't be enough to cover all the money that would be lost. And he's really concerned that that means businesses won't want to come to this area after they see what happened to Disney. And Disney might not bring those 2,000 high-paying jobs from California over here to Florida.

INSKEEP: I'm just trying to get my brain around this. Does this mean Disney's taxes go down because they're being punished? I mean, I'm baffled.

PRIEUR: Well, basically, you know, what will happen, - right? - is that they pay taxes right now on this district (laughter).

INSKEEP: OK.

PRIEUR: And so basically, the taxes now will be paid for by local residents, who already have some of the highest taxes in the country.

INSKEEP: Will visitors to Disney notice any change at all?

PRIEUR: They might because, obviously, Disney was in charge of ambulance services and fire services. So if, you know, someone has a heart attack or a car accident, now it's up to the county to figure out how to handle that and how to foot the bill. And also, Disney now will need approval before it expands on all of its wonderful theme parks, hotels, restaurants, new rides. There's a lot of red tape now involved.

INSKEEP: Danielle, thanks for the insights. Really appreciate it.

PRIEUR: Thank you, Steve.

INSKEEP: Danielle Prieur of member station WMFE in Orlando.

1 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

4 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

7 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。