Florida Senate - 2021                              CS for SB 490
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Senators Bracy and Stewart
       
       
       
       
       585-02991-21                                           2021490c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to Juneteenth Day; amending s. 683.01,
    3         F.S.; designating Juneteenth Day as a legal holiday;
    4         repealing s. 683.21, F.S., relating to Juneteenth Day;
    5         deleting provisions designating Juneteenth Day as a
    6         special observance, to conform to changes made by the
    7         act; providing an effective date.
    8  
    9         WHEREAS, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln
   10  issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which afforded free status
   11  under federal law to the millions of enslaved African Americans
   12  who resided in states that had seceded from the Union, including
   13  Florida, and
   14         WHEREAS, despite the issuance of the Emancipation
   15  Proclamation, it was not fully enforced in certain regions of
   16  the United States for more than 2 years afterwards, and
   17         WHEREAS, on or about June 19, 1865, federal authorities
   18  arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation
   19  Proclamation and further inform slaves that the Civil War had
   20  ended and that the enslaved were now free, and
   21         WHEREAS, thereafter, former slaves and their descendants
   22  continued to commemorate each June 19 to celebrate freedom and
   23  the emancipation of all slaves in the United States, and
   24         WHEREAS, emancipation in Florida was proclaimed in
   25  Tallahassee on May 20, 1865, and for this reason Floridians
   26  traditionally celebrate Emancipation Day on May 20 of each year,
   27  and
   28         WHEREAS, in 1991, the Florida Legislature officially
   29  designated June 19 of each year as “Juneteenth Day” to
   30  commemorate the freeing of slaves, but did not designate the day
   31  as an official legal holiday, and
   32         WHEREAS, this act designates Juneteenth Day as a legal
   33  holiday in this state to commemorate the announcement of the
   34  abolition of slavery and to recognize the significant
   35  contributions of African Americans to this state and our nation,
   36  NOW, THEREFORE,
   37  
   38  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   39  
   40         Section 1. Present paragraphs (n) through (u) of subsection
   41  (1) of section 683.01, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
   42  paragraphs (o) through (v), respectively, and a new paragraph
   43  (n) is added to that subsection, to read:
   44         683.01 Legal holidays.—
   45         (1) The legal holidays, which are also public holidays, are
   46  the following:
   47         (n) Juneteenth Day, June 19.
   48         Section 2. Section 683.21, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
   49         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.