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Gov. Kay Ivey has treated Juneteenth as a state holiday for the past several years in alignment with the federal holiday.
Lawmakers have been working to make it an official state holiday for years as well, with no luck so far.
The latest attempt is underway with the Alabama House of Representatives approving HB165 by Rep. Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, on Thursday.
The bill is a clean addition of the holiday, free from hijinks of previous bills that would have added Juneteenth as a state holiday but forced state employees to choose between taking off for Juneteenth or Jefferson Davis day. Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy; Juneteenth commemorates the day federal troops enforced the emancipation proclamation in Texas.
The bill has been pushed by Black Democrats in the Legislature for years, and Black Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, also filed a bill in the House this year, but lawmakers advanced the bill by the white Republican instead.
Lawmakers have raised issues with adding an extra day of closures, which has been the reasoning behind bizarre arrangements like the choice between Juneteenth and Jefferson Davis. Democrats have filed bills to drop Jefferson Davis Day and Confederate Memorial Day entirely to no avail. Alabama honors three Confederate holidays including a combination holiday honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The bill now moves to the Senate.
