Juneteenth will be a federal holiday. What does that mean for California public employees?
Juneteenth — or June 19 — is joining Memorial Day, Christmas and other days as a federal holiday. Most federal employees will get Friday off, but the immediate impact for California public employees may not be evident for awhile.
Congress this week approved legislation designating Juneteenth National Independence Day as the nation’s newest federal holiday, the first since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was approved in 1983. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Thursday afternoon.
The Juneteenth legislation got only 14 “no” votes in the House Wednesday night, including Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove.
“I voted against the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act because I don’t believe it’s healthy to reach into the dead past, revive its most malevolent conflicts and re-introduce them into our age.
The immediate practical effect of the new law is that starting Friday, most federal employees will get a paid day off for Juneteenth. About 170,000 federal employees work in California, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
But perhaps equally important, the law gives the date new stature.
California has recognized Juneteenth as a holiday since 2003, though it is not one of the 11 paid holidays for state employees.
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation commemorating the day. The Capitol Dome was lit in the pan-African colors of red, black and green. The pan-African flag symbolizes the African Diaspora and black liberation in this country.
Thursday, his office said “It is encouraging to see bipartisan efforts to recognize the importance of Juneteenth. The governor issues a proclamation each year to celebrate this important day.” It also noted that legislation and collective bargaining would be needed before it became a paid holiday for California public employees.
“Creating a state holiday for Juneteenth in California would require legislation and, as a state holiday, it would be the subject of mandatory collective bargaining with employee groups,” Amy Palmer, spokeswoman for the California Government Operations Agency, said Thursday.
Currently, state employees get a paid day off for Juneteenth only in Texas, New York, Virginia and Washington. Forty-four other states and the District of Columbia do recognize the holiday.
Also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Juneteenth Independence Day and Black Independence Day, Juneteenth commemorates the actual end of slavery in this country.
Many slave owners kept their slaves even after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. On June 19, 1865, Major Gen. Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas, and said the Civil War was over and slavery had ended.
The next year, Texas began to observe the day with parades, cultural events and historic readings, according to the Congressional Research Service. In 1980, Junethenth became a Texas state holiday.
In Washington, efforts to make Juneteenth a federal holiday were stalled in the Senate until Tuesday.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who had objected to the bill, dropped his objection. “While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no appetite in Congress to further discuss the matter,” he said in a statement.
This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 10:08 AM.
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