Bill Text: NY A04743 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the secretary of the senate and the clerk of the assembly to identify the date of Asian Lunar New Year; declares such day as a public holiday each year.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 10-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-06 - referred to governmental operations [A04743 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A04743-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4743

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 6, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. CHANG, BENDETT, NOVAKHOV, SMULLEN, TAGUE, MAHER,
          GIGLIO, MILLER, BEEPHAN, SLATER --  read  once  and  referred  to  the
          Committee on Governmental Operations

        AN ACT to amend the legislative law and the general construction law, in
          relation  to the identification of Asian Lunar New Year and the decla-
          ration of such day as a public holiday

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

     1    Section  1.  Section  15 of the legislative law is amended by adding a
     2  new undesignated paragraph to read as follows:
     3    The respective secretary and clerk shall accurately identify the prop-
     4  er date of each year's Asian Lunar  New  Year  according  to  the  lunar
     5  calendar.   The respective secretary and clerk shall consult with repre-
     6  sentatives of appropriate organizations or other officials in  identify-
     7  ing  such  date.   By January first of each calendar year, the secretary
     8  and clerk shall identify and report in writing the calendar dates of the
     9  next three succeeding lunar new years to the governor, the secretary  of
    10  state,  the state comptroller, the speaker of the assembly, the minority
    11  leader of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate,  and  the
    12  minority leader of the senate.
    13    § 2. Section 24 of the general construction law, as amended by chapter
    14  249 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
    15    § 24. Public holidays; half-holidays. The term public holiday includes
    16  the  following days in each year: the first day of January, known as New
    17  Year's day; the third Monday of January,  known  as  Dr.  Martin  Luther
    18  King,  Jr.  day;  the  Asian  Lunar  New  Year as identified pursuant to
    19  section fifteen of the legislative law to be known as  Lunar  New  Year;
    20  the  twelfth  day  of  February,  known as Lincoln's birthday; the third
    21  Monday in February, known as Washington's birthday; the last  Monday  in
    22  May,  known  as  Memorial  day; the second Sunday in June, known as Flag
    23  day; the nineteenth day of June, known as Juneteenth; the fourth day  of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07576-01-5
        A. 4743                             2

     1  July, known as Independence day; the first Monday in September, known as
     2  Labor  day;  the  second  Monday  in October, known as Columbus day; the
     3  eleventh day of November, known as Veterans' day; the fourth Thursday in
     4  November,  known as Thanksgiving day; and the twenty-fifth day of Decem-
     5  ber, known as Christmas day, and if any of such days except Flag day  is
     6  Sunday, the next day thereafter; each general election day, and each day
     7  appointed  by  the  president of the United States or by the governor of
     8  this state as a day of general thanksgiving, general fasting and prayer,
     9  or other general religious observances. The term  half-holiday  includes
    10  the  period from noon to midnight of each Saturday which is not a public
    11  holiday.
    12    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that section two
    13  of this act shall take effect on the first Asian Lunar New Year  identi-
    14  fied by the secretary of the senate and the clerk of the assembly pursu-
    15  ant  to  section  15 of the legislative law; provided, further, that the
    16  secretary of the senate and the clerk of the assembly shall  notify  the
    17  legislative  bill  drafting commission upon the occurrence of the enact-
    18  ment of the legislation provided for in section two of this act in order
    19  that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely  effective  data
    20  base  of  the official text of the laws of state of New York in further-
    21  ance of effectuating the provisions of section 44 of the legislative law
    22  and section 70-b of the public officers law.