SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers will be gathering in a special session on Wednesday, but not everyone is happy about it being scheduled on the Juneteenth holiday.
“To us, it feels like a slap in the face,” said Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake Branch of the NAACP.
Adopted in 2022 as a state holiday, Utah recognizes Juneteenth on Mondays. This year the state recognized it on June 17. The law designates the holiday be on the Monday before June 19, if that day falls on a weekday, and the Monday after if June 19 falls on the weekend.
When the bill was being negotiated in 2022, a person familiar with negotiations said that the decision to hold the holiday on a Monday was part of a legislative compromise so the bill could get passed.
Juneteenth recognized on Wednesday
Juneteenth, however, is still recognized as a federal holiday on June 19 so banks will be closed as will the post office and federal buildings and employees will be off work.
Williams argued holding the special session on Juneteenth is political, because she said the governor could have called lawmakers back into session at any point in the last four months since the general session ended.
“All of a sudden, the special session is being called just days before the primary election. And to me and to a lot of other people is saying that, you know, why call it now? What’s so important that you have to call a special session on Juneteenth?” Williams said.
Gov. Spencer Cox’s office defended the decision.
“We are celebrating Juneteeth today and Wednesday is the regularly scheduled legislative interim session before legislators take July off. It’s the only time we could schedule a special session because of the legislative calendar,” said a Cox spokeswoman.
Historically, lawmakers do meet on the third Wednesday in June, and some argue having the special session at the end of interim meetings saves taxpayer money because lawmakers are already gathered.
Williams said the day is extremely important to African Americans as many recognize the day as Emancipation Day.
“My main reason (for speaking up) is to make sure that we have a voice in the community that things are not just done without the voices of people of color and the minority and diversity of communities,” Williams said.
Wednesday’s special session
Lawmakers will be taking up six items on Wednesday.
Those include tweaks to a bill to keep a pair of coal power plant operational; voting on an effort to block federal title IX protections for trans youth under a new law allowing the state to ignore federal directives until courts intervene; changes to issues related to public lands; a bill to tweak setting up new school districts in Utah; addressing some repeal dates, and amendments on participation by exchange students in the statewide online education program.
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