By cfordlaw
Community
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s puny attempts to punish the Walt Disney Company for opposing his bigotry agenda, which includes “don’t say gay” legislation that banned discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in schools, continue to blow up in his face, as Disney redirects its economic might to California.
It has been well-reported that immigrants are fleeing Florida to escape the harsh, anti-immigrant policies DeSantis recently enacted as part of his so-called war on woke (a term he says opponents cannot define and he cannot define correctly), leaving farmers and builders to scramble for workers. Now, adding to Florida’s economic woes,the ill wind of Disney’s war with Ron DeSantis over LGBTQ+ rights appears to be blowing some magic pixie dust towards California as the theme park giant reins back its investment in Florida and ramps up spending in the Golden state.
On its way out of Florida, Disney not only canceled a $1B office-campus project that would have added 2,000 jobs to central Florida, but it also unveiled plans to shutter a “Star Wars-themed luxury hotel” it had opened in Orlando just last year. Explaining these changes in plans, Disney representatives have referred to DeSantis as “anti-business” and cited “changing business conditions” in Florida. A business analyst told the Guardian,
“DeSantis has done lasting harm to Disney’s investments in Florida…. I’m in touch with a lot of CEOs who are looking at those issues right now and thinking, ‘Where should I invest? What’s best for the long run?’”
Disney’s answer: California, which now will add some Disney dinero to its world-beating economy. The company
is all in on Disneyland Forward, an ambitious rolling program of growth at its two Anaheim theme parks. The company projects the program will generate $253m annually and more than 2,200 new jobs.
After receiving a briefing on Disney’s plan to invest in its Southern California properties “for decades to come,” California governor Gavin Newsom, in a prepared statement, said
“In California, we don’t just tolerate our diversity – we celebrate it and all the ways it makes us stronger.”
Newsom added,
“Our inclusivity and acceptance attract new talent and ideas that drive our economic growth and make California a hotspot for world-leading companies to grow and prosper.”
Earlier this year Newsom mocked DeSantis after Disney created a loophole that thwarted DeSantis’s attempt to take control of Disney land in Florida. "I guess there's a new sheriff in town," Newsom told a business publication, his comment an ironic reference to DeSantis’s like pronouncement when he initiated his failed attempt to strip Disney of self-governing powers. “It’s Mickey Mouse, back on top.”
If California were a country, its 2022 GDP of $3.6T would produce the world’s fifth largest economy, ahead of India, France and the U.K. and behind only the U.S., China, Japan and Germany, and nearly twice the size of the economy of Canada, which has a similar-size population.
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