STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7148
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Governmental Operations
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
22 of the enemies of the United States, some of the attackers were observed
23 removing the flag of the United States, throwing it to the ground, and
24 replacing it with a flag bearing the name of President Donald J. Trump.
25 4. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured defending the
26 Capitol, and four insurrectionists and a Capitol Police officer died. In
27 the months that followed the attack, four additional Capitol Police
28 officers died by suicide. More than seven hundred people have been
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10938-01-5
A. 7148 2
1 arrested in connection with the attack, however those most responsible
2 have avoided accountability.
3 5. It is the intent of the legislature to establish an annual day of
4 commemoration to be known as Democracy Day, to honor those who were
5 wounded or died as a result of defending the Capitol, reiterate the need
6 to protect and strengthen our democratic institutions, and recognize the
7 ongoing threat of anti-democratic, white nationalist, and authoritarian
8 movements in the United States.
9 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 168-a of the executive law, as amended
10 by chapter 542 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
11 3. The following days shall be days of commemoration in each year:
12 January sixth, to be known as "Haym Salomon Day", and also to be known
13 as "Democracy Day", January twenty-seventh, to be known as "Holocaust
14 Remembrance Day", February fourth, to be known as "Rosa Parks Day",
15 February fifteenth, to be known as "Susan B. Anthony Day", February
16 sixteenth, to be known as "Lithuanian Independence Day", February twen-
17 ty-eighth, to be known as "Gulf War Veterans' Day", March fourth, to be
18 known as "Pulaski Day", March eighth, to be known as "International
19 Women's Day", March tenth, to be known as "Harriet Tubman Day", March
20 twenty-ninth, to be known as "Vietnam Veterans' Day", April ninth, to be
21 known as "POW Recognition Day", April twenty-seventh, to be known as
22 "Coretta Scott King Day", April twenty-eighth, to be known as "Workers'
23 Memorial Day", the first Tuesday in May to be known as "New York State
24 Teacher Day", May seventeenth, to be known as "Thurgood Marshall Day",
25 the first Sunday in June, to be known as "Children's Day", June second,
26 to be known as "Italian Independence Day", June twelfth, to be known as
27 "Women Veterans Recognition Day", June nineteenth, to be known as "June-
28 teenth Freedom Day", June twenty-fifth, to be known as "Korean War
29 Veterans' Day", the second Monday in July, to be known as "Abolition
30 Commemoration Day", August twenty-fourth, to be known as "Ukrainian
31 Independence Day", August twenty-sixth, to be known as "Women's Equality
32 Day", September eleventh, to be known as "Battle of Plattsburgh Day" and
33 also to be known as "September 11th Remembrance Day", September thir-
34 teenth, to be known as "John Barry Day" and also to be known as "Uncle
35 Sam Day in the State of New York", September seventeenth, to be known as
36 "Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Memorial Day", the third Friday in
37 September to be known as "New York State POW/MIA Recognition Day" except
38 if such date of commemoration cannot be observed due to a religious
39 holiday, such observances shall then be conducted on the second Friday
40 of September, the last Saturday in September, to be known as "War of
41 1812 Day", the fourth Saturday of September, known as "Native-American
42 Day", the last Sunday in September, to be known as "Gold Star Mothers'
43 Day", October fifth, to be known as "Raoul Wallenberg Day", October
44 eleventh, to be known as "New Netherland Day in the State of New York",
45 October eighteenth, to be known as "Disabilities History Day", October
46 twenty-seventh, to be known as "Theodore Roosevelt Day", November ninth,
47 to be known as "Witness for Tolerance Day", November twelfth, to be
48 known as "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day", the third Tuesday in November to
49 be known as "New York State School-Related Professionals Recognition
50 Day", November twenty-sixth, to be known as "Sojourner Truth Day",
51 November thirtieth, to be known as "Shirley Chisholm Day", December
52 third, to be known as "International Day of Persons with Disabilities",
53 December seventh, to be known as "Pearl Harbor Day", December sixteenth,
54 to be known as "Bastogne Day" and that day of the Asian lunar calendar
55 designated as new year to be known as "Asian New Year".
56 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
