STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
550
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2023
___________
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.
A LBD01087-01-3
A. 550 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 237 of the laws of 2020, 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 tenth, to be known as "Harriet Tubman
19 Day", March twenty-ninth, to be known as "Vietnam Veterans' Day", April
20 ninth, to be known as "POW Recognition Day", April twenty-seventh, to be
21 known as "Coretta Scott King Day", April twenty-eighth, to be known as
22 "Workers' Memorial Day", the first Tuesday in May to be known as "New
23 York State Teacher Day", May seventeenth, to be known as "Thurgood Mars-
24 hall Day", the first Sunday in June, to be known as "Children's Day",
25 June second, to be known as "Italian Independence Day", June twelfth, to
26 be known as "Women Veterans Recognition Day", June nineteenth, to be
27 known as "Juneteenth Freedom Day", June twenty-fifth, to be known as
28 "Korean War Veterans' Day", the second Monday in July, to be known as
29 "Abolition Commemoration Day", August twenty-fourth, to be known as
30 "Ukrainian Independence Day", August twenty-sixth, to be known as
31 "Women's Equality Day", September eleventh, to be known as "Battle of
32 Plattsburgh Day" and also to be known as "September 11th Remembrance
33 Day", September thirteenth, to be known as "John Barry Day" and also to
34 be known as "Uncle Sam Day in the State of New York", September seven-
35 teenth, to be known as "Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Memorial Day", the
36 third Friday in September to be known as "New York State POW/MIA Recog-
37 nition Day" except if such date of commemoration cannot be observed due
38 to a religious holiday, such observances shall then be conducted on the
39 second Friday of September, the last Saturday in September, to be known
40 as "War of 1812 Day", the fourth Saturday of September, known as
41 "Native-American Day", the last Sunday in September, to be known as
42 "Gold Star Mothers' Day", October fifth, to be known as "Raoul Wallen-
43 berg Day", October eleventh, to be known as "New Netherland Day in the
44 State of New York", October eighteenth, to be known as "Disabilities
45 History Day", October twenty-seventh, to be known as "Theodore Roosevelt
46 Day", November ninth, to be known as "Witness for Tolerance Day", Novem-
47 ber twelfth, to be known as "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day", the third
48 Tuesday in November to be known as "New York State School-Related
49 Professionals Recognition Day", November thirtieth, to be known as
50 "Shirley Chisholm Day", December third, to be known as "International
51 Day of Persons with Disabilities", December seventh, to be known as
52 "Pearl Harbor Day", December sixteenth, to be known as "Bastogne Day"
53 and that day of the Asian lunar calendar designated as new year to be
54 known as "Asian New Year".
55 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
