The Walt Disney World Legacy Legacy: A State Takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District with a Five-Person Board, as signed on Monday by the Florida Governor

The Florida governor signed a bill on the doorstep of Disney World that will give him new power over the entertainment giant, and will punish them for speaking out against the Republican Party.

The new law amounts to a state takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the government body that has given Disney unique powers in Central Florida for more than half a century. It allows the governor to replace the district’s existing board – mostly people with ties to Disney – with a five-member body that he hand-picks.

“Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” DeSantis said Monday at a Reedy Creek fire station in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Accountability will be the order of the day with a new sheriff in town.

The members include Michael Sasso, a local elections lawyer, and Bridget Ziegler, a conservative school board member and wife of the Florida Republican Party chairman.

In a statement to CNN, the president of Walt Disney World Resort said that the company was excited to work within the framework of the new bill and bring joy to millions of guests.

“Disney came out against something that was really just about protecting young kids, and making sure that students are able to go to school learning to read, write, add, subtract, and not having a teacher tell them that they can change their gender,” DeSantis said Monday. “And I think most parents agree with that. But you know, that was only a mild annoyance. I think that when the dust settled, you clearly had a movement within the corporation itself.

Several would-be GOP rivals were critical of the move that was celebrated by conservative media. Former Vice President Mike Pence said the conflict with Disney was “beyond the scope of what I as a conservative, limited government Republican would be prepared to do.” New Hampshire’s governor said the decision to penalise businesses for political speech was the worst precedent in the world.

The heart of the bill is the appointment of a five-person state board to oversee municipal services, such as fire protection and road maintenance, where Disney World operates.

DeSantis stressed on Monday that under the new structure, Disney would still be responsible for its municipal debts and local governments would not raise taxes.

The governor said the five board members include people who “very much want to see Disney be what Walt envisioned,” implying that Disney’s values wouldn’t be negatively impacted.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District was created by Disney in the 1960s to make it easier to build a theme park in the area.

Disney didn’t immediately reply to NPR’s request, but the company has told media before that they wouldn’t fight the government takeover.

The relationship soured when Disney required its workers to show proof of vaccine, and guests at its theme park wore face coverings.

At the same time, Disney was increasingly drawing criticism from conservatives for making changes to its parks and films to increase inclusivity. Disney World closed Splash Mountain, for example, after a petition accusing it of “stereotypical racist tropes” gained 21,000 signatures.

DeSantis immediately turned Chapek’s statement into a fundraising point. Legislation was introduced to remove Disney’s special tax status.