On Thursday, the state House passed a bill that would eliminate the company of their near-total power over the special district where their theme park is based. It had already passed the Senate.
Known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, it was created in a 1967 deal between the state and the Walt Disney Company.
This special privilege accorded to Disney effectively allows the company to operate as their own municipal government, with their own board of supervisors and include the ability to levy tax, build roads, control utilities and operate their own fire department.
The entertainment and media conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California enjoyed the freedom from almost all bureaucratic intervention for half a century and is thought to have saved them from tens of millions of dollars in taxes and fees.
And it is part of why Disney chose to build their theme parks in Florida, where they have become the state's largest private employer, with some 80,000 jobs.
The change in status for Disney is seen as retribution for the company for being on the wrong side of the political divide. They have come out publicly to oppose the state's Parental Rights in Education Law, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law by critics.
It prohibits any instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity between kindergarten and third grade – when students are roughly between five and nine years old. And it calls on school districts to avoid LGBT topics "when not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students".
The legislation also extends to student support services, including counselling, and grants parents the power to sue schools directly if they believe an educator has broken the law.
Opponents say the law will isolate and stigmatise LGBT youth, while supporters say it protects children from age-inappropriate content.
That’s what happens when business mixes with politics.
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