Assemblywomen from Southern California have introduced a bill for the possibility to reopen amusement parks such as Universal Studios and Disneyland. They assure that it would have a great economic impact and would help the state's economy.
Almost 11 months after the closure of amusement parks, the most affected have been local businesses and hundreds of workers who now live off unemployment.
With the new proposed bill AB420, two legislators from Southern California are promoting the reopening of various amusement parks such as Disneyland, Universal Studios and Magic Mountain among others, arguing that it would help reactivate the local economy.
“I've been without work for almost 4 months, '' said Carlos González, a Disneyland employee.
Maria Morales, who runs her business and owns a café and breakfast restaurant near Disneyland, has seen her business take a nosedive after the parks were closed due to the pandemic.
“Right now the employees are not working and that is why the business collapsed. Everything went down by like 50%," Morales said.
Due to the standard of measurement with which the pandemic is measured, most of the state of California is in the purple tier, which means that according to health authorities a possible reopening would not be possible unless the color achieved is yellow. This is still a long way from being achieved, and meanwhile those who suffer are business owners.
"Yes, it would be a good idea for Disney to reopen, although of course, the people's health comes first, and we would continue to respect all the health standards," Morales said.
Legislators Suzette Valladares, Republican of Santa Clarita and Sharon Quirk-Silva, Democrat of Orange County, who have introduced the law AB420, argued that the reopening of other parks around the world including Disney World in Orlando, Florida, have found no evidence of the virus spreading, so they believe it's time for jobs to return.
The tax gains generated by the various amusement parks throughout the state adds up to $12.6 billion, plus thousands of lost jobs would be recovered.
