米フロリダ州知事 ディズニー特区廃止法案に署名

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】米フロリダ州のロン・デサンティス知事（共和党）は２２日、ディズニー・ワールドがあるオーランドでのウォルト・ディズニーへの優遇税制を含む特別区制度を廃止する法案に署名した。（写真はディズニー・ワールド）
　性的指向に関する授業を禁じる州法成立を批判したディズニーへの報復措置とみられている。
　州内で７万５０００人以上を雇用しているディズニーは当初は沈黙を保っていたが、声を上げないことに対する批判が広がり、ボブ・チャペック最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）は３月、同法を批判し、フロリダ州議員への政治献金をやめると発表した。
　「リーディ・クリーク・インプルーブメント区」は、ディズニー・ワールド建設を推進するために１９６７年にフロリダ州議会が設置した特別区。面積は約１００平方キロで、中部のオレンジ郡とオセオラ郡の２市が含まれている。
　州議会との取り決めにより、ディズニーは一種の自治体として特別区を運用し、税金の徴収やごみ収集、水道などの公共サービスを行ってきたが、特別区の廃止が決まったことで、該当地域の今後に関心が集まっている。
　フロリダ州法では特別区が廃止された場合、資産と負債は周辺自治体に承継される。
　同州のリンダ・スチュワート上院議員（民主党）は２０日、「特別区を廃止すれば、２０億ドル（約２６００億円）のディズニーの負債を納税者が負担することになるかもしれない」と警告していた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/04/25-13:11）

Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a law that eliminates a statute that has for decades allowed entertainment giant Disney to act as a local government in Orlando, where it has its theme park.
The move was the latest episode in a dispute between DeSantis' Republican administration and Disney, after the company criticized the passage in March of a law banning school lessons on sexual orientation.
There was no immediate response by Disney to the decision, part of a cultural battle waged by Republican leaders across the United States.
Disney was initially silent about the law. But widespread criticism of the company, which employs more than 75,000 people in Florida, after it failed to publicly speak out eventually prompted Disney CEO Bob Chapek to condemn it and suspend donations to state politicians.
Those remarks rankled DeSantis and prompted the swift approval of Disney's withdrawal of special status, which comes into effect in June 2023.
You're a corporation based in Burbank, California, and you're gonna marshal your economic might to attack the parents of my state, said DeSantis, according to NBC news.
We view that as a provocation, and we're going to fight back against that, he said.
The Reedy Creek Improvement District was an area created by Florida's congress in 1967 to facilitate the construction of Disney World in Orlando.
The area is about 38 square miles (100 square kilometers) and includes two cities and land in Orange and Osceola counties, in central Florida.
Under that agreement, Disney runs the district as if the entertainment juggernaut were a local government, including collecting taxes and guaranteeing essential public services such as garbage collection and water treatment.
The decision to scrap the special district has raised doubts about the future of the land.
Under Florida law, if the special district is dissolved, its assets and debts would be transferred to local governments that surround the area.
Removing district could transfer $2 Billion debt from Disney to taxpayers, state Democratic senator Linda Stewart warned Wednesday.