ORLANDO, Fla. — For days, Gov. Ron DeSantis has been criticizing Disney, after the company called for the Parental Rights in Education law, known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, to be repealed.
Amid the controversy, Walt Disney World could get more than half a billion dollars in state tax breaks over 20 years for building a regional hub in Orlando’s Lake Nona community.
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The plan is to move 2,000 employees from California to the site. In all, Disney could spend $864 million on the new campus.
The tax break would be among the largest in state history for a single corporation, but DeSantis says that isn’t a given.
READ: State lawmakers target Disney as tensions mount
“They have not qualified for any tax incentives, and I think what people are pointing to is just the general program we have for every business,” DeSantis said.
Documents show they could get as much as $570 million under the capital investment tax credit program.
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“My view is that we should just treat everybody equally, we shouldn’t let one company have their own set of rules compared to everyone else. They have been able to sustain this because they have a lot of clout for many, many decades,” DeSantis said.
In 2006, Sanford Burnham received $300 million in state and local taxes to move to Orlando, and the biotech company left a decade later. It’s unclear what, if any, safeguards Disney’s deal could include.
READ: Disney cast members to stage walkout over controversial Parental Rights in Education bill
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