Bill Text: MI HB4457 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Chaptered
Bill Title: Holidays: other; "Juneteenth"; designate as a holiday. Creates new act.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 48-3)
Status: (Passed) 2023-12-31 - Assigned Pa 215'23 [HB4457 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-HB4457-Chaptered.html
Act No. 215
Public Acts of 2023
Approved by the Governor
November 22, 2023
Filed with the Secretary of State
November 22, 2023
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 13, 2024
state of michigan
102nd Legislature
Regular session of 2023
Introduced by Reps. Scott, Brenda Carter, Young, Tyrone Carter, Grant, Weiss, Hoskins, O’Neal, McKinney, Dievendorf, Edwards, Wilson, Brixie, Stone, Arbit, Morse, Glanville, Price, Brabec, Coffia, Hill, Hood, Churches, Snyder, Liberati, Coleman, Hope, Breen, Paiz, Morgan, Miller, Byrnes, Haadsma, Steckloff, Andrews, Tsernoglou, Rogers, Conlin, Martus, Puri, Zorn, Kunse, Mentzer, Rheingans, Farhat, Wegela, McFall, Shannon, Meerman, Koleszar and Aiyash
ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4457
AN ACT to designate June 19 of each year as Juneteenth.
The People of the State of Michigan enact:
Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that slavery existed in American history for more than 200 years. Millions of African-Americans were brought to the Americas as slaves stacked in the bottom of slave ships in a 5- to 12‑week journey across the Atlantic Ocean known as the “Middle Passage”. Although approximately 11,500,000 African-Americans survived the voyage across the ocean, the number of those who died in the inhuman conditions of the passage is probably even higher. Once in the United States, the slaves were subjected to whipping, castration, branding, and rape. The legislature further observes that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863 and declared that all slaves in Confederate-controlled areas were free. In the following months, spontaneous celebrations erupted throughout the United States as African-Americans learned of their freedom. News of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the states at different times, and it was not until June 19, 1865 that the message of freedom reached the state of Texas. In honor of this great moment in United States history, the legislature declares that June 19 of each year shall be known as “Juneteenth”.
(2) The legislature
encourages each individual in this state to pause on Juneteenth and reflect on the strong survival instinct of the African-American
slaves and the excitement and great joy with which African-Americans first
celebrated the emancipation from slavery. It
is a reminder to all Americans of the status and importance of Americans of
African descent as American citizens.
Enacting section 1. This act does not take effect unless House Bill No. 4722 of the 102nd Legislature is enacted into law.
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Secretary of the Senate
Approved___________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Governor
