Bill Text: NY A00550 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designates January 6th as Democracy Day.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to governmental operations [A00550 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A00550-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           550

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     January 9, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN, SIMON, GONZALEZ-ROJAS -- read
          once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation  to  designating  January
          sixth as "Democracy Day"

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1.  Legislative findings. The Legislature finds  and  declares
     2  the following:
     3    1. On Wednesday, January 6th, 2021, the President of the United States
     4  at  the  time, Donald J. Trump, members of his administration and presi-
     5  dential campaign, and several Republican Members of  Congress,  directly
     6  incited  and  encouraged  an  armed and violent insurrection against the
     7  government of the United States, with the express purpose of  preventing
     8  the peaceful transfer of power and overturning the results of a free and
     9  fair election.
    10    2.  In  the  months  leading  up to January 6th, the former President,
    11  members of his administration,  and  numerous  elected  members  of  his
    12  party,  intentionally spread false and inflammatory claims regarding the
    13  legitimacy of the election, and both implicitly and explicitly  promised
    14  violent or armed opposition to prevent the election from being certified
    15  and the President-Elect from taking office.
    16    3.  In  the course of their attack, the insurrectionists trespassed on
    17  and destroyed Federal property, including flagrantly looting  the  Capi-
    18  tol,  and  openly  bragged  about  their  exploits  on social media. The
    19  attackers carried white supremacist symbols including the flag known  as
    20  the  "Confederate  battle  flag,"  as well as anti-Semitic, fascist, and
    21  neo-nazi ideology. At the same time as many were carrying these  symbols
    22  of the enemies of the United States, some of the attackers were observed
    23  removing  the  flag of the United States, throwing it to the ground, and
    24  replacing it with a flag bearing the name of President Donald J. Trump.
    25    4. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured defending the
    26  Capitol, and four insurrectionists and a Capitol Police officer died. In
    27  the months that followed the  attack,  four  additional  Capitol  Police
    28  officers  died  by  suicide.  More  than  seven hundred people have been

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01087-01-3
        A. 550                              2

     1  arrested in connection with the attack, however those  most  responsible
     2  have avoided accountability.
     3    5.  It  is the intent of the legislature to establish an annual day of
     4  commemoration to be known as Democracy Day,  to  honor  those  who  were
     5  wounded or died as a result of defending the Capitol, reiterate the need
     6  to protect and strengthen our democratic institutions, and recognize the
     7  ongoing  threat of anti-democratic, white nationalist, and authoritarian
     8  movements in the United States.
     9    § 2.  Subdivision 3 of section 168-a of the executive law, as  amended
    10  by chapter 237 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
    11    3.  The  following  days  shall be days of commemoration in each year:
    12  January sixth, to be known as "Haym Salomon Day", and also to  be  known
    13  as  "Democracy  Day",  January twenty-seventh, to be known as "Holocaust
    14  Remembrance Day", February fourth, to be  known  as  "Rosa  Parks  Day",
    15  February  fifteenth,  to  be  known  as "Susan B. Anthony Day", February
    16  sixteenth, to be known as "Lithuanian Independence Day", February  twen-
    17  ty-eighth,  to be known as "Gulf War Veterans' Day", March fourth, to be
    18  known as "Pulaski Day", March tenth, to  be  known  as  "Harriet  Tubman
    19  Day",  March twenty-ninth, to be known as "Vietnam Veterans' Day", April
    20  ninth, to be known as "POW Recognition Day", April twenty-seventh, to be
    21  known as "Coretta Scott King Day", April twenty-eighth, to be  known  as
    22  "Workers'  Memorial  Day",  the first Tuesday in May to be known as "New
    23  York State Teacher Day", May seventeenth, to be known as "Thurgood Mars-
    24  hall Day", the first Sunday in June, to be known  as  "Children's  Day",
    25  June second, to be known as "Italian Independence Day", June twelfth, to
    26  be  known  as  "Women  Veterans Recognition Day", June nineteenth, to be
    27  known as "Juneteenth Freedom Day", June twenty-fifth,  to  be  known  as
    28  "Korean  War  Veterans'  Day", the second Monday in July, to be known as
    29  "Abolition Commemoration Day", August  twenty-fourth,  to  be  known  as
    30  "Ukrainian  Independence  Day",  August  twenty-sixth,  to  be  known as
    31  "Women's Equality Day", September eleventh, to be known  as  "Battle  of
    32  Plattsburgh  Day"  and  also  to be known as "September 11th Remembrance
    33  Day", September thirteenth, to be known as "John Barry Day" and also  to
    34  be  known  as "Uncle Sam Day in the State of New York", September seven-
    35  teenth, to be known as "Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Memorial Day", the
    36  third Friday in September to be known as "New York State POW/MIA  Recog-
    37  nition  Day" except if such date of commemoration cannot be observed due
    38  to a religious holiday, such observances shall then be conducted on  the
    39  second  Friday of September, the last Saturday in September, to be known
    40  as "War of 1812  Day",  the  fourth  Saturday  of  September,  known  as
    41  "Native-American  Day",  the  last  Sunday  in September, to be known as
    42  "Gold Star Mothers' Day", October fifth, to be known as  "Raoul  Wallen-
    43  berg  Day",  October eleventh, to be known as "New Netherland Day in the
    44  State of New York", October eighteenth, to  be  known  as  "Disabilities
    45  History Day", October twenty-seventh, to be known as "Theodore Roosevelt
    46  Day", November ninth, to be known as "Witness for Tolerance Day", Novem-
    47  ber  twelfth,  to  be  known  as "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day", the third
    48  Tuesday in November to  be  known  as  "New  York  State  School-Related
    49  Professionals  Recognition  Day",  November  thirtieth,  to  be known as
    50  "Shirley Chisholm Day", December third, to be  known  as  "International
    51  Day  of  Persons  with  Disabilities",  December seventh, to be known as
    52  "Pearl Harbor Day", December sixteenth, to be known  as  "Bastogne  Day"
    53  and  that  day  of the Asian lunar calendar designated as new year to be
    54  known as "Asian New Year".
    55    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.