Bill Text: NY S00112 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designates January 6th as Democracy Day.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 25-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO FINANCE [S00112 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00112-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           112

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. KRUEGER, SANDERS, ADDABBO, BRISPORT, BROUK, COMRIE,
          COONEY, GOUNARDES, HINCHEY, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, KENNEDY,  LIU,
          MANNION,  MAY,  MAYER,  PERSAUD,  RAMOS,  RIVERA,  SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA,
          SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered printed, and  when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance

        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

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01087-01-3
        S. 112                              2

     1  of the enemies of the United States, some of the attackers were observed
     2  removing the flag of the United States, throwing it to the  ground,  and
     3  replacing it with a flag bearing the name of President Donald J. Trump.
     4    4. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured defending the
     5  Capitol, and four insurrectionists and a Capitol Police officer died. In
     6  the  months  that  followed  the  attack, four additional Capitol Police
     7  officers died by suicide. More  than  seven  hundred  people  have  been
     8  arrested  in  connection with the attack, however those most responsible
     9  have avoided accountability.
    10    5. It is the intent of the legislature to establish an annual  day  of
    11  commemoration  to  be  known  as  Democracy Day, to honor those who were
    12  wounded or died as a result of defending the Capitol, reiterate the need
    13  to protect and strengthen our democratic institutions, and recognize the
    14  ongoing threat of anti-democratic, white nationalist, and  authoritarian
    15  movements in the United States.
    16    §  2.  Subdivision 3 of section 168-a of the executive law, as amended
    17  by chapter 237 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
    18    3. The following days shall be days of  commemoration  in  each  year:
    19  January  sixth,  to be known as "Haym Salomon Day", and also to be known
    20  as "Democracy Day", January twenty-seventh, to be  known  as  "Holocaust
    21  Remembrance  Day",  February  fourth,  to  be known as "Rosa Parks Day",
    22  February fifteenth, to be known as  "Susan  B.  Anthony  Day",  February
    23  sixteenth,  to be known as "Lithuanian Independence Day", February twen-
    24  ty-eighth, to be known as "Gulf War Veterans' Day", March fourth, to  be
    25  known  as  "Pulaski  Day",  March  tenth, to be known as "Harriet Tubman
    26  Day", March twenty-ninth, to be known as "Vietnam Veterans' Day",  April
    27  ninth, to be known as "POW Recognition Day", April twenty-seventh, to be
    28  known  as  "Coretta Scott King Day", April twenty-eighth, to be known as
    29  "Workers' Memorial Day", the first Tuesday in May to be  known  as  "New
    30  York State Teacher Day", May seventeenth, to be known as "Thurgood Mars-
    31  hall  Day",  the  first Sunday in June, to be known as "Children's Day",
    32  June second, to be known as "Italian Independence Day", June twelfth, to
    33  be known as "Women Veterans Recognition Day",  June  nineteenth,  to  be
    34  known  as  "Juneteenth  Freedom  Day", June twenty-fifth, to be known as
    35  "Korean War Veterans' Day", the second Monday in July, to  be  known  as
    36  "Abolition  Commemoration  Day",  August  twenty-fourth,  to be known as
    37  "Ukrainian Independence  Day",  August  twenty-sixth,  to  be  known  as
    38  "Women's  Equality  Day",  September eleventh, to be known as "Battle of
    39  Plattsburgh Day" and also to be known  as  "September  11th  Remembrance
    40  Day",  September thirteenth, to be known as "John Barry Day" and also to
    41  be known as "Uncle Sam Day in the State of New York",  September  seven-
    42  teenth, to be known as "Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Memorial Day", the
    43  third  Friday in September to be known as "New York State POW/MIA Recog-
    44  nition Day" except if such date of commemoration cannot be observed  due
    45  to  a religious holiday, such observances shall then be conducted on the
    46  second Friday of September, the last Saturday in September, to be  known
    47  as  "War  of  1812  Day",  the  fourth  Saturday  of September, known as
    48  "Native-American Day", the last Sunday in  September,  to  be  known  as
    49  "Gold  Star  Mothers' Day", October fifth, to be known as "Raoul Wallen-
    50  berg Day", October eleventh, to be known as "New Netherland Day  in  the
    51  State  of  New  York",  October eighteenth, to be known as "Disabilities
    52  History Day", October twenty-seventh, to be known as "Theodore Roosevelt
    53  Day", November ninth, to be known as "Witness for Tolerance Day", Novem-
    54  ber twelfth, to be known as "Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  Day",  the  third
    55  Tuesday  in  November  to  be  known  as  "New York State School-Related
    56  Professionals Recognition Day",  November  thirtieth,  to  be  known  as
        S. 112                              3

     1  "Shirley  Chisholm  Day",  December third, to be known as "International
     2  Day of Persons with Disabilities", December  seventh,  to  be  known  as
     3  "Pearl  Harbor  Day",  December sixteenth, to be known as "Bastogne Day"
     4  and  that  day  of the Asian lunar calendar designated as new year to be
     5  known as "Asian New Year".
     6    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.