Time running out on Juneteenth Day bill

Before the legislative session started on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an Ogden lawmaker had hoped the state Legislature would recognize the civil rights holiday by passing his bill to commemorate Juneteenth Independence Day.

The House approved HB11 on Jan. 16, the second day of the legislative session. But, with just a few days remaining in the 2007 session, sponsor Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, is disappointed that the Senate has yet to act on the bill.

That inaction, says Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake, and who is carrying the bill in the Senate, is due largely to a "big push to move the legislative session start date" so that lawmakers won't meet on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

That bill, SJR12, received unanimous support in the Senate and now needs a two-thirds majority in the House to be placed on the 2008 ballot. It would amend the state constitution to start the Legislative session on the fourth Monday in January, instead of the third Monday which is also the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. It would also omit Presidents Day, and any future federal holidays, from the session's 45-day count.

While Wednesday marks the last day for committee hearings, Romero said there's still a chance the Juneteenth bill could come up on the floor. If not, he predicted it would resurface next session.

"I think it's a good bill," Romero said. "I would be honored to carry it in the Senate again."

Hansen believes that creating a Juneteenth commemorative day on the third Saturday in June to celebrate the notification to Texas slaves they were freed is a separate issue from Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"Juneteenth has to do with the history of our country, the freeing of (Southern) slaves through the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation," Hansen said. "It's a separate issue. I wish they would let it stand on its own merit."

"We're not conceding by any means," said Betty Sawyer, coordinator of the Utah Juneteenth Committee.

Both bills "are perceived to do with the African-American community," she said. "It's very shortsighted to say to the black community, 'You can only ask for one bill a year.'"

Sawyer said because the Juneteenth recognition would be commemorative, it doesn't have a fiscal note. The holiday has been celebrated informally for more than 40 years and as an organized state celebration for 17 years.

"It goes beyond celebration," Sawyer said. "The celebration happened because of an end to a part of our history that was very devastating to a group of people. ... There were slaves in Utah as well."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com