Bill Text: NY S07680 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Designates January 6th as Democracy Day.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 29-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-22 - PRINT NUMBER 7680A [S07680 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S07680-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7680

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 7, 2022
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. KRUEGER, SANDERS, ADDABBO, BRISPORT, BROOKS, BROUK,
          COMRIE, COONEY, GOUNARDES, HINCHEY, HOYLMAN, KAVANAGH,  KENNEDY,  LIU,
          MANNION,  MAY,  MAYER, PERSAUD, RAMOS, REICHLIN-MELNICK, RIVERA, SALA-
          ZAR, 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  and  fascist
    21  symbols  including  swastikas.  At  the  same time as many were carrying
    22  these symbols of the enemies of the United States, some of the attackers
    23  were observed removing the flag of the United States, throwing it to the
    24  ground, and replacing it with a  flag  bearing  the  name  of  President
    25  Donald J. Trump.
    26    4. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured defending the
    27  Capitol, and four insurrectionists and a Capitol Police officer died. In
    28  the  months  that  followed  the  attack, four additional Capitol Police

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14184-05-2
        S. 7680                             2

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