HNewsWire-Following Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' signing of the "Parental Rights in Education" bill into law, one Sunshine State senator said Disney "dipped in quicksand and made a major unforced blunder."

According to The Epoch Times, DeSantis suggested at a March 31 press conference in Ponte Vedra Beach that Florida lawmakers might repeal the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act in response to Disney's continued opposition to the recently signed "Parental Rights in Education" law, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by liberal opponents. "If Disney wants to adopt awakened philosophy, it seems natural that they should be governed by Orange County," said state Rep. Spencer Roach, a Republican, on social media, revealing that legislators had previously met twice to debate the issue.

Since the governor signed the bill into law, there has been an ongoing battle between Disney and the state of Florida. After receiving outrage from a small group of Disney's LGBT workers, Disney CEO Bob Chapek made a statement on March 11 apologizing for not being a "stronger ally" to them. In a show of force, Chapek also stated that Disney will cease all political contributions in Florida immediately. Following that, Disney Corporation made a statement promising that their new objective was to get "this statute repealed by the legislature or knocked down in the courts," as well as to fund groups trying to achieve that goal. "Florida is governed by the interests of the people of the state of Florida—it is not based on the demands of California business executives," DeSantis promptly reminded Disney.

According to recent polls, the vast majority of primary voters in Florida, including a sizable majority of Democrats, strongly approve this proposal. "A torrent of families are canceling Disney subscriptions" to its amusement parks and the Disney+ streaming service, according to Breitbart. The hashtag "Boycott Disney" trended on social media, and Moms for Liberty, one of the biggest moms' advocacy groups in the United States, has warned Disney that if it does not cease meddling with Florida's laws, it would suffer backlash.

"CEO Bob Chapek has to be fired," Roach said on April 3 on social media. "A guy preoccupied with sexualizing 4-year-olds should not be running a firm that prides itself on maintaining childhood's innocence and enchantment."

Roach told The Epoch Times, "I believe Disney leadership is fully aware they have walked into quicksand and committed a severe unforced blunder." "I believe they realize how severely they've screwed up here, and the only way they can reach an agreement is for Bob Chapek to go." I believe his days are limited, and he will step down as CEO in the near future. Whoever comes in will have to publicly admit to some degree that Disney will not be held hostage by a tiny group of workers who believe they have the authority to dictate Disney's political position, and if some people don't like that, they will be forced to go."

Roach said he has attended a dozen campaign events in the last four weeks and that "people are upset." Roach feels that the only way for Disney to salvage face at this point is for them to admit they didn't read or comprehend the law and that they will quit interfering in Florida's legislative affairs. He also recommends that Disney issue a public statement expressing or reiterating its support for parental rights in Florida.

Roach said he has had multiple talks with Disney lobbyists who have been extremely loud in warning company leadership that they are very terribly misinformed about the political environment in Florida and have strongly recommended them to stay out of it, but he would not identify them. California officials, on the other hand, "did not heed that warning."
'It's Also Disney Making Money,' says the author.

James Bailey, a leadership professor at George Washington University's School of Business, told the Washington Examiner that Disney understands what it's doing in the "strategic bet" against Florida's Parental Rights law.

"Stepping up and saying, 'Hey, we're a progressive firm, and you can't tell us what to do,' is really enhancing their brand," Baily told The Washington Examiner. "So, this is Disney being Disney and sticking to its ideals, but it's also Disney generating money." "Disney has accountants, marketing folks, and focus groups who have been able to suss out that pushing back on the legislation would be beneficial for their business model," Baily said. While some conservative clients may be lost, Baily thinks the move would bring in new liberal customers.

In a state where registered Republican voters recently outnumbered Democrats by 100,000, Roach believes the business model of getting some new liberal clients while sacrificing conservatives is not a successful approach.

Roach speculated, "Perhaps in California." "A lot of Disney execs live in a bubble in California." Chapek's apologies and pledges to get the legislation repealed, according to Roach, are a political bet based on ignorance, rehearsed talking points, and a lot of poor counsel.

Roach claimed, "The information that Bob Chapek has been getting is simply out false." "This is a California corporation with California values, despite the fact that we have a large Disney presence in Florida." Chapek was born in Chicago and now resides in California. I'm not sure how often he visits Florida, but I have to presume he gets his counsel from business leaders in California. I'd be quite surprised if Chapek really read the seven-page measure. He didn't, I'm sure. Someone in California provided him with his talking points."

Ray Keating, editor of DisneyBizJournal.com and a Disney stockholder, agrees.

"Here's a recommendation for Disney CEO Bob Chapek: Get back to business, that is, quality in narrative," Keating told Fox News Digital. "We all have the right to be heard on problems, but not at the expense of the shareholders."

This is, according to Roach, the "very beginning of the shareholder rebellion."
Spencer Roach is a Florida State Representative.
Spencer Roach is a Florida State Representative. (Photo by Spencer Roach)

"I believe Disney's leadership are fully aware that they have made a significant miscalculation, and I believe their shareholders are beginning to react," Roach claimed. "The issue with awakened businesses is that they fail to see that they exist to serve their shareholders, not their workers." What happened at Disney has happened at a lot of other companies: a small group of woke radical progressive employees pressuring management to speak out on political issues, and many times, management is hijacked by these people into thinking it represents a broad consensus of public opinion when it doesn't. The stockholders, not the workers, will ultimately decide whether or not Bob Chapek keeps his job. So, I believe you have a very troubling business model here, where a lot of people in the public and workers tend to forget that it is the shareholders, not the employees, who make these choices at firms."
Reedy Creek should be repealed. 'Opportunistic rather than retaliatory'

While some have accused DeSantis of attempting to punish Disney with a display of "post-Trump authoritarianism," Roach thinks the repeal is more "opportunistic than vengeful."

"Attempting to destroy Reedy Creek in the past was absolutely impossible due to Disney's immense political influence in Florida," Roach told The Epoch Times. "However, they are now politically exposed." Disney's political influence, according to Roach, is at a "55-year low." Disney's political donations are even being returned to Republican politicians. "This gross miscalculation committed by Disney has offered a politically opportune opportunity for us to remedy this free-market phantasm," Roach added.

Reedy Creek has been actively disputed and critically questioned for years, according to Roach. DeSantis said that the repeal would not be just punitive, but rather part of a bigger campaign to deprive Disney of "special advantages." Repeal, according to Roach, is "a chance to remedy something that should have been done a long time ago."

In Florida, there are countless additional amusement parks. As Roach pointed out, the "special rights" Disney enjoys are extensive and exclusive to Disney. Reedy Creek exempts all of the almost 40 square miles of property Disney owns from "all county and practically all state rules." Disney is immune from impact taxes, building rules, surface water management, drainage, and all waste treatment laws as a result of this exemption. In reality, Roach claims that Disney gets to choose the citizens of the "state-cities" they've built in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista (of which there are only 36).

"The issue today is that they're veering away from [Disney's] initial idea," Roach said.It's no longer only the theme parks, as Roach noted. On the land, Disney has long planned to construct a $300 million movie studio. The most basic package at a fourth, out-of-this-world costly Disney-owned hotel begins at $4,809 on weeknights. A new apartment complex and sprawling residential villages are also in the works at Disney. Disney is also working on plans to build a business park and relocate employment from its California operations to Florida.

"When it comes to developers and companies who want to invest there," Roach said, "Disney has an amazing edge because they don't have to comply with all of the state and county rules." "Reedy Creek is a blatant abuse of the free market system." It is the state's, and maybe the country's, biggest privately administered taxation district. Reedy Creek's issue is that we should never have done it in the first place. It is completely anti-market. There are seven to eleven more theme parks in the Orlando Osceola County/Orange County region. This is a unique carveout that none of them have. It's all about Disney. As a result, it's anti-free market and a huge tax windfall for Disney. The greatest tax evasion scheme in Florida's history, and potentially in the United States.

"I believe Bob Chapek's days as CEO are numbered," Roach said once again. "He will be a victim of this, and I hope Disney issues a statement reaffirming their commitment to parental rights in Florida and stating that they will not be held hostage by a group of radical, progressive employees who do not represent the majority of Florida voters or even a majority of Disney employees."

King James Bible
Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.