Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, hopes that when legislators convene on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, they'll take the opportunity to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.

Hansen, D-Ogden, is hoping on the first day of the 2007 legislative session, the House and Senate will both pass a bill to create a state commemorative day to recognize Juneteenth Independence Day on the third Saturday in June.

"I just think we ought to recognize it as a state," Hansen said of the holiday celebrated annually in Utah and across the nation.

Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, when slaves in Galveston, Texas, were informed they had been freed. The announcement came more than 2 1/2 years after President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in rebel states.

As of June, 19 states and the District of Columbia recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or observance, according to the National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign, which is advocating for official federal recognition of Juneteenth.

An observance would not be a paid day of leave for state employees as are state holidays, Hansen said.

Hansen said the idea has been on his mind for a few years. He introduced a similar bill last year, along with a resolution by Rep. Duane Bourdeaux, who retired after the 2006 session as the state's only black lawmaker. Neither bill got a committee hearing.

"This year I said this is going to be a priority," Hansen said. "I want try and get it to where it can pass on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the first day of the session."

In order to do that, Hansen is hoping to have his bill heard by committee during a fall interim meeting.

Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake Branch NAACP, hoped lawmakers would embrace the idea but remembers the contentiousness only a few years ago when lawmakers established the state's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. In 2000, some lawmakers had staunchly opposed the idea of changing the state's 1986 Human Rights Day holiday to honor King. Williams added that lawmakers have yet to heed civil rights leaders' call to change the start date of the session from the King holiday. Such action would require a state constitutional amendment.

"It would be very nice to see it happen on the first day," Williams said. "He'll have to do a lot of work between now and that day to make sure there's no opposition."

Hansen doesn't see the issue becoming a volatile one.

"I don't know how it can be contentious, it's the recognition of the history of the United States," he said. "If we don't recognize it, does it go away? I don't think so."

Williams said state recognition of Juneteenth would mean a lot to Utah's small but vibrant black community, which comprises less than 1 percent of the state's population.

"To those who are a little hesitant to hold conferences and conventions here in Utah because of the low numbers of African Americans, it would send a message that Utah is very inclusive and recognizes its history."

Betty Sawyer, president of the Ogden Branch NAACP and president of the State Juneteenth Committee, said, "We're hopeful this will be another opportunity to recognize and celebrate the diversity that makes Utah the great place it is, and get policy makers involved in other areas."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com