Will Juneteenth become a paid state holiday? It’s not California lawmakers’ top priority

Junteenth is the newest federal holiday, but California state workers aren’t likely to get it as a paid day off anytime soon.

Doing so would be meaningful, but other priorities should be addressed first, said state Sen. Sydney Kamlager, Legislative Black Caucus vice chair.

“Juneteenth is important, but fixing the (Black community’s) systemic issues is more important,” the Los Angeles Democrat told The Sacramento Bee. “I think symbolism is important, but the substantive legislation that comes with teeth and is attached to money is more important.”

Juneteenth commemorates the day slavery ended in this country. Most of the state’s 170,000 federal employees got the day off Friday with pay, since the holiday this year falls on a Saturday.

Making Juneteenth a paid state holiday is not listed on the California Legislative Black Caucus 2021 agenda.

Gov. Gavin Newsom did not mention support for a paid holiday in a statement Thursday.

“It is encouraging to see bipartisan efforts to recognize the importance of Juneteenth. The Governor issues a proclamation each year to celebrate this important day,” his office told The Bee.

After President Joe Biden signed the law making it a federal holiday Thursday, Black caucus Chairman Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, issued a statement that did not mention making the day a paid state holiday.

“The holiday has grown in many states, and here in California, I have authored resolutions recognizing it every year since I joined the Senate,” he said.

California has recognized Juneteenth as a holiday since 2003. But it has not gone as far as Washington did this week. The new law means most federal workers had a paid day off Friday, and will on June 19 in the years ahead.

Asked if there was any effort by the Black caucus to make the day a paid state holiday, Austin Panush, a Bradford spokesman, said he did not know for certain.

He said he would “be very surprised if there wasn’t a future effort by the (caucus) to make it a state holiday following (this week’s) federal enactment.”

Black community issues

The Black Caucus is focused on passing a bill to decertify officers with problematic misconduct records, and another to require officers to intervene when colleagues are using excessive force.

It also wants to establish a pilot program that would let community organizations be the first to respond to emergencies.

“While I hope there’s earnest discussion around a paid holiday, what I hope for more is we fix challenges with our criminal legal system and make sure black students have better schools and people have better jobs,” Kamlager said.

As an example, she cited issues involving Black home ownership.

Let’s talk, the senator said, about “economic equity, lending institutions that have traditionally been predatory to the African American community, where they’ve undervalued homes, where they have given market rates higher than what is given to other communities.”

She also wants more action on gang enhancements, or additional prison sentences given to those who are members of street gangs.

The senator called the current policy, where an estimated 92% of people who received gang enhancements are people of color, “inconsistent and often discriminatory.”