An emotional debate over a new state holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States took place in the Connecticut House of Representatives. Black legislators spoke Wednesday about the racial intolerance they’ve seen in their lives and the importance of “Juneteenth,” or June 19th, as a holiday to Black people. The bill passed in the House 148-1 on Wednesday night, after clearing the Senate 30-1 a day earlier. It now heads to Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont, who will likely sign it. Rep. Anthony Nolan of New London, who is Black, said the legislation means more than a holiday, representing freedom for Black people that has been delayed.
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Connecticut lawmakers have wrapped up the 2022 legislative session. They spent the final hours advancing bills to Gov. Ned Lamont that address juvenile crime, make changes to the state’s new recreational cannabis law and recognize Juneteenth Independence Day as an official state holiday. While hundreds of bills were expected to die on the vine, per usual, many of the major bills of the three-month-long session have already cleared the Democratic controlled General Assembly. The list includes one of the first abortion rights bills to pass in years and a revised one-year $24.2 billion budget that benefits from the state’s best fiscal figures in decades.
Tennessee lawmakers have finished their annual legislative session after tackling topics ranging from tax cuts and Tennessee Titans stadium funding to restrictions on transgender athletes and scrutiny of school libraries. Lawmakers have sent Republican Gov. Bill Lee plenty of bills to consider, though he has never vetoed anything as governor. He has already signed some this year. Others have become law without his signature. Lawmakers passed a $52.8 billion budget, Lee's new public school funding formula, campaign finance reforms, criminal penalties on homeless camps, additional limits on COVID-19 safety measures and more. The Republican-supermajority Legislature began its election-year lawmaking session in January.
The students need to raise more than $19,000 to visit Washington, D.C., for Juneteenth.
Opal Lee's dream of seeing Juneteenth become a federal holiday was finally realized over the summer, but the soon-to-be 95-year-old Texan's wo…
During a flag-raising ceremony at East St. Louis City Hall on June 19, Stephanie Taylor couldn’t help but cry.
Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday has sparked a conversation about symbolism. But some say that the legislation doesn’t answer the cries f…
Parades, picnics and lessons in history were offered Saturday to commemorate Juneteenth in the U.S.
Opal Lee, the 94-year-old woman who spent years fighting for Juneteenth, stresses that there's work left to do to push back against racism.
What is this federal holiday, and what is its history? Here's a look.
Thumbs Up ... to bipartisan majorities in Congress and President Joe Biden for making Juneteenth a national holiday, declaring June 19 a day t…
The Juneteenth flag is flying over the Wisconsin Capitol for the second year in a row.
Illinois government offices will be closed Friday in a nod to a new federal law, making Juneteenth an official holiday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday.
President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a bill that makes Juneteenth a federal holiday, meaning most federal employees will get a paid day off Friday.
Juneteenth is now a federal holiday.It marks the day enslaved Black people in Texas learned they were free after the Civil War.President Biden…
The Quad-Cities is set to celebrate Juneteenth this weekend as the anniversary of slavery ending in the U.S. garners state and national attention.
President Joe Biden signed legislation into law Thursday to make Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday.
As the U.S. readies for the addition of Juneteenth, or June 19, as a new federal holiday, activist Opal Lee has much to celebrate.
The annual June 19 tradition commemorates the day in 1865 when former American slaves in Galveston, Texas, were finally informed of President Lincoln's Jan. 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation.
The United States will soon have a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. President Joe Biden is scheduled to sign into law on …
"This name needlessly divides our nation on a matter that should instead bring us together by creating a separate Independence Day based on th…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation into law Wednesday that made Juneteenth a paid state holiday in Illinois.
A few feet away from a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed legislation making Juneteenth an official state holiday.
Illinois became the latest state to make Juneteenth an official state holiday as Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a measure Wednesday near a rare signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.
