clash of the company Florida is the latest example of how companies can speak out on social and political themes in his fight to put up with some lawmakers. Last year, Georgia politicians threatened to raise taxes on Delta Air Lines after the company spoke out against restrictive voting laws of the state. More recently, Texas lawmakers have said they would bar Citigroup underwriting of municipal bonds in the state, unless the bank lifted its policy to pay for employees to travel the state for abortions, which are severely limited.
The clash between Mr. DeSantis and Disney began on March 9, when the company – under acute pressure from its employees – spoke out against parental rights legislation, or what detractors call the “Don’t Say Gay”- called law.
More than 150 companies, including Marriott and American Airlines, had already signed a Human Rights Campaign letter against the legislation. However, Disney had avoided taking a public position, with its CEO, Bob Chapek, explaining to employees in an email on March 7 that he did not want the company to become “a political football.”
Two days later, when Disney was under pressure to condemn the law, did mr. Chap that. He also announced that he had called Mr. DeSantis “to express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay lesbian, non-binary and transgender children and families.”
“The governor heard our concerns and agreed to meet with me and LGBTQ+ members of our Florida senior team to discuss ways to address them,” Mr. Chapek said.
That seemed to annoy up Mr. DeSantis, leading to a tit for tat between his press secretary and a Disney spokesman. When Mr. DeSantis signed the bill into law on March 28, Disney reiterated its criticism. “Our goal as a company is to have this law repealed or knocked down in the courts,” Disney said in a statement at the time, “and we remain committed to supporting state and state organizations working to to achieve that. †
Florida lawmakers then began threatening to repeal Disney World’s special tax district.
The Florida Legislature came together this week for a special session on the reclassification of the congress. mr. DeSantis Tuesday issued a proclamation making body controlled by the Republicans also the abolition of special districts that were established before 1968, could take on. Almost all were established after that date, with Disney as a big exception.
Stephen Gandel reporting contributed.
