S.B. 193 State Legal Holiday Amendments: transcript

Thank you, chair. I just want to point out that the, that which flows downhill in the last presentation is actually ballast for a ship. Mm. And it's had, has a good productive use. Thank you. The, uh, appreciate, and it's, uh, appreciate the honor and privilege of being here before the committee, Mr. Chair and, and members of the committee. This is a remarkable, uh, opportunity as we look at, uh, what makes our, our best version come forth, and what helps us be what, uh, we, we, we can be in, in fullness. It's interesting this year we're celebrating 250 years of our Declaration of Independence. And one aspect that has, we can forget is the Declaration of Independence was, was ratified along with the constitution, the proposed constitution in the, in the States. And as part of our founding document in itself, it references, there's four times in that Declaration of Independence. It references, uh, deity. First term is nature's God, second creator in that great, uh, the, the, you know, endowed by their creator with certain unable rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. There's also a, the reference to the supreme judge of the world and divine Providence. And clearly the notion of recognizing and welcoming nature's God, creator, supreme judge of the world. And divine Providence is part of our wonderful heritage as a country. And it is a keystone principle and a foundational keystone principle to moving forward. The founders, 34% of their sites reference back to the Bible and the great Judeo-Christian history and foundation we have in our country. Since that time, we've had many other wonderful religions and people of faith join us in, in, in our nation, in our state. So I have this bill, and I actually, the reason I wanted to present it today is I need, and I'm relying upon the committee for feedback, in its simplest form, it has, uh, on, on line 35 and six, it says the Friday proceeding Easter Sunday is Good Friday. And that day would be in this bill, as in its current version, would be then a legal state holiday. But I recognize as the bill has been published, there's, there's concerns and we can say, okay, well, what about, uh, the strength of other faiths? And the days are important to them, and we actually have in this, I wonder if we could close the door. Would that be okay? I'm still sweating a little Bit. Thank They're, they're, they're having a good port party. We, we can join. Thank you. The, uh, the, the principle of our Judeo-Christian Biblical worldview is that we seek the highest priority of eight moral agency. And to elevate one faith tradition at the expense of diminished another wouldn't be consistent. And so there's been questions asked, well, what about other faith traditions? Holy days. And as you look at this bill, the answer to that is actually here within the bill and the, and within an amendment that I think would make a lot of sense to move this forward. As you look at line 55 in the, the, the language, the text of the bill talks about each employee may select one additional day called personal preference day to be scheduled in accordance with the rules made and so forth. And then we get, uh, which the employee may use to observe a state holy day as defined in section 60 3G 1, 1 1, 1 0 1. And I had one too many ones in there. But what we've done last year is we created a designation of state Holy days, and we, good Friday was one of 'em, certainly, uh, but there's a host of others that it was meant to be an inclusive list. The challenge that we have, uh, is we want to honor these, is we haven't aligned ourselves with, with, uh, the, the patterns in, in our, our cadence with our different public institutions. And so with that in mind, we could have this bill as it is. And I would certainly, if, if I'm a business owner and I have the employees, and for example, and my business was as doing as well as our state is doing in leading the nation, and it's, it's the number one above, I would do number one, in so many ways, I would do all I can to show appreciation to the employees, and which might be the preference of the committee to go ahead with the bill is written. But an alternative would be this, it would be to add an amend. We, we could either keep line 36 or 37, or remove those and then approach it with a declaration of intent, legislative intent regarding the K through 12 and higher education. That would sound something like this in, in scheduling spring break and other breaks through the year were possible placed as highest priority use best efforts to have them scheduled on Good Friday and other days listed in that 60 3G one dash one dash 1 0 1. That would have the effect of creating an opportunity for an alignment among our state, uh, those that work within the state to have the opportunity to, if their, whatever their holy day is, that there would be an opportunity to join with their, those are in school and in education, in, in being able to celebrate those holy days. Hope that makes sense. But I, uh, wanted to present and get some feedback from the committee on this as that, as an option. Thank you, chair.

So I just wanna make sure that I'm clear on exactly what you're, like, what the options are, I guess before, thank you. So we've got the amendment to, uh, maybe, uh, you wanted to remove lines 35 through 37, and did you want to convert it to a resolution or what, what were you, what were you thinking as the option to

The idea there would be put in language in the code that would, would recognize the days 60 3G 1, 1 0 1, the days there, that would include, uh, good Friday, as well as the other days that are recognized by faith in our community. The bill, the, the amendment isn't quite ready, but I wanted to present it to the committee and, and receive feedback and see what you'd like to do.

Well, I think my first preference would be, uh, recognizing that there's a way to address everyone what, regardless of what your faith tradition is, and we want to honor that faith tradition, certainly, uh, with, with lines 55 to 60, with the addition of an alignment with our public education and higher education. That would be, that would be, I think, an improvement upon the, this, this current, this current first version. And I would leave it to, I think the discussion, I would advocate that it would make sense with that, that it would be helpful because 73% of our state do affiliate as, uh, some, one of our, one of the many Christian faith that are here. I would like to see that being a state holiday, but I understand that that the concern of adding another holiday in. And so there's a way to still get where we'd like to go if we want to go in that direction. But I need, I, I'm one voice, my voice would be, my voice would be pass the bill with the amendment of adding that educational alignment. The second option would be pass the bill with the educational alignment, but remove the, the formal state holiday of Good Friday.

So I guess what I'm trying to at is we don't have the amendment before us. Do you want us to pass the bill as is with the commitment that you're going to amend? Or do you want us to hold and wait for the amendment?

My preference, given where we are in the session, would be in, in passing it, it would be a co 150 bills down. Give us time to do it. That's what I would prefer.

But I understand if you No, and that was the main thing. I was just trying to get the Thank you. Get That. Um, and I, and I think I'm, I'm on board with that from what you've described. I think, uh, there's some some good solutions in there. And, and so I just wanted to make sure I understood what your preference was on, on today's actions, A complicated discussion between two attorneys. But all simplify it. It, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So Easter bounces around a bit. Um, I remember when, you know, e Easter can come at the end of March or the end of April, if you're talking about having universities schedule their spring break around Easter, uh, my guess is that universities might see that as problematic when Easter is near the end of April, because typically that's when graduation ceremonies take place, right? Like, maybe it's finals week. Um, uh, I don't know. Uh, I, uh, we don't have that amendment before us, so I, I we're just kind of go basing on an idea about, uh, you know, what we're either compelling or suggesting or kindly suggesting or strongly suggesting that they do, um, uh, right, because what you're interested in is having the week before Easter off, so that Good Friday is off and Easter Sunday is off, and they'd go back to school The next day. Um, it it, is that right

If I may, yeah, The, you, it could be a Friday, Monday that, that, that, if it's a spring break, it depends. But, but the, I think the intent of the amendment is to provide the flexibility. I would say this, in talking to two of our university presidents, they were very, very supportive of the, of the notion. And they said, the thing that's really gonna help is if we can align our educators and staff that have children, so that it, it could, they, they could be aligned as, as families also recognizing the need for flexibility, uh, based on when Easter falls. And, and so the, the amendment would be, if it's possible, if it would make sense to, to do it, it wouldn't be a hard, fast required rule. But there is great flexibility not only on Easter, but the other days as well, for those of those face other faiths.

This is Ga Ika from, I'm with Utah Eagle Forum, and I certainly support this bill, and I support it the way it is. Uh, you know, Christmas is a Christian holiday, but everybody celebrates it. And you know this, they may, they may celebrate it different ways if it's not part of their religion, it's just a time to have gifts and tell each other whether you love each other or whatever it is. But, so having Good Friday, uh, as a holiday, just, you know, yes, it is a Christian holiday, but everybody will get that time off. Everybody can celebrate. And, uh, you know, there's, my husband was Jewish and, uh, the Jewish holidays were something that, uh, we paid attention to. Uh, never thought one. He, he never thought, well, gee, we should have, you know, Jewish holidays. If we're gonna have Christian holidays. We are a Christian nation, a Judeo Christian nation. But I don't see that this is any different than celebrating Christmas. We picked a time, uh, you know, conversations have been, well, how does that work for the schools and how does that work for the universities? But for me, as I'm looking at it, I want to celebrate that holiday. And that's where, you know, good Friday is with Easter. So it, it, it, you know, be called Easter Weekend. And, uh, if, if the, the holiday or the vacation time, whatever you want it, call it, falls on Friday, instead of celebrating it on a Monday, that's even better to have the weekend to celebrate and, uh, you know, recognize what each other believes, but they don't have to believe what we believe to enjoy the holiday. So, I like it the way it is.

Yeah, I would move that we recommend favorably SB 1 93.

Senator, I'll, I'll waive.

Uh, I intrigued by the proposed amendment here. Um, but I think before even moving out something, knowing that that amendment is coming, I imagine that that amendment might be controversial if school districts or universities see it as the state dictating what their school calendar should be. I would prefer to have the chance to have those bodies, uh, express themselves in committee.

but I will be voting nay. Okay.

Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to have the presentation initially. And, uh, we've got, uh, our, our language ready to present to the, the, the, the, this panel here. Thank you for, for this. I, I'm, I I'm remembering a statement from Winston Churchill that, uh, we can always count on America to do the right thing after they've tried everything else. And I, it's really interesting as we look at what's happened in our space here with religious freedom and liberty and this taproot of our, uh, society, uh, of all freedoms and, and liberties that we have. It's been interesting 50 years from the seventies with, with lemon and now, now the current, uh, outcomes of, of, of cases. This is an opportunity for us to, I think more fully, uh, recognize the role of faith in our society, how important it is, uh, and all the bring all the good that it brings. I have, uh, Mr. Chair two substitutes online. Uh, and I think they both improve where we were when we last met. And, and this was the indication. One, substitute one, uh, invites our education, uh, providers, uh, K through 12 higher education to, uh, strive where, where it's helpful to, uh, declare their non-school days and non, non non days in alignment with our state Holy days. That's a great foundation we can build on that we all agreed and passed last year, uh, to recognize and give some relief to our ins uh, uh, families in that way. Those, uh, across the board. The other aspect of, of sub one is to declare that Easter, that, uh, good Friday leading into Easter Sunday is would be a state holiday. We could take a lot of, we could talk a lot about that concept of, of, of being a state holiday. I recognize we, we recognize the benefit of a well-rounded, balanced, uh, employee I had as an employer of several hundred people. I, I recognize with technology and all that we have today, we're much more effective in efficien in the workplace. And there is a lot to be learned, uh, uh, about creating an environment that's, uh, uh, desirable. And oftentimes in today when we talk about, uh, the desires of the employees that I'm working with in, in my workplace is they'll say, rather than an increase in income, let me have some more time with my family. So I think there's, there's an opportunity there. Substitute two, uh, uh, is, is would put in place, it would take out the state holiday aspect and then, uh, uh, require the school school system to give some priority if it's possible to, uh, aligning their days off. Which again, is, is another very helpful step forward. So, uh, I appreciate the opportunity to present. I know there might be some public comment and I, I wanna be sensitive to time, so I'll leave it at that. Appreciate that you're the first person that's wanted to be sensitive to time. Uh, okay. Thank you very much.

No, I wouldn't say, Help me understand. I think, I think the education community's involved in both subs, Uhhuh, they're, they're both, both engaged there. But I, I would say that how I would say it may be I, I on a good better, best scale, I would, from my perspective, I think sub one is, is the best and sub two would be better. Uh, we're moving forward on, with either one, uh, an important discussion, an opportunity to have with us. And, uh, you know, we, we, we, we need to, we hope we can move forward with one of those subs.

Gail Ziko. It depends on if you're yelling at me, so it goes either way. I yell at my brother. Yes, Exactly right. Go ahead. Gail Ika with Utah Eagle Forum, and I wanna speak in favor of this. I a little confused because you know, there's one and there's two. And, and then of course there was the original one that I also spoke in favor for. So I guess it, you know, I want to see that holiday recognized, and so whatever can be worked out, I will support, support that with what, uh, what you decide you wanna do. But thank you for doing it.

Okay. Can you hear me? This is Lanie Hilton.

Will turn on the camera.

So I'm, I am so excited about this bill. I represent parents. Um, I have children in college to younger to age 12, and I've been in Utah 17 years, and I've loved much of my, much of the things about living in Utah. I just wanna speak in favor of this bill. Um, I know that you pass a lot of bills that affect incomes affect money affecting the environment, and this bill doesn't do any of that, but it affects individual Utah citizens. And it's not unprecedented. Um, 17 of our US states recognize Good Friday as a state or legal holiday in some form. Um, even California has it as a legal holiday from 12 to 3:00 PM and the New York Stock Exchange has been closed on Good Friday for many years, and also on Easter Monday. And I, I'm just saying like, we're not being strange. Like Utah would not be weird if we pass this. We're just joining these 17 other US states that recognize it as a US holiday. And in some countries that we have more than Good Friday, you have Easter Monday off as well, and Catholics have, um, really highlighted. And Good Friday has been important for Catholics for centuries. Um, but recently, LDS circles and Protestant circles are adopting this as well and wanting to do more worship on this day. And Dal h Oak, 'cause he's a leader in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And he invited us a year ago to invite everyone to improve their Easter traditions on in their own family and in society as a whole. So even if we're like, oh, we can't, you, Utah just can't make good Friday a legal holiday. Well, at least let's, let's make it a partial holiday. Let's do something so that we're recognizing it. Um, I realize that, um, well, I'm just representing from the parent's perspective. I just wanna give you my own personal experience. I, I am so grateful for the bill that passed last year about holy days, but I just wanna express that that's just not enough. Like the, the bill said, it's great. We will let you take your kids off of school and you can be excused on these holy days. But for anyone who is a parent of teenagers, you know that it's hard to get teenagers to come to any kind of extra worship like anytime, right? Just 'cause they're teenagers, they're busy. But when, like, so I have students, my, sorry, my children are very involved and do well in school, and they're involved in leadership positions. And so this has literally happened to me multiple years where I'll say, okay, let's, I'm gonna check you outta school. We're gonna go to a worship service. And they're like, mom, I can't, I have this important test. They said, great, you can go to school, but in the evening, we're gonna do something, mom, I can't, we have all these extracurricular activities that they're in charge of, right? So it's a reflection on me maybe as a parent that I haven't instilled this better on them to not plan those. But some of these things are kind of out of their control. And I just feel like the Holy day aspect is, it is now just isn't sufficient for parents who want their families to be able to worship on this day. And I just, I, I don't want this to sound rude, but I just feel like it's frankly an embarrassment that Utah is not on this list of states that honor Good Friday as a holiday. You like, I don't know you, um, individually, you who are passing voting on this law maybe are you are religious, maybe you are not, but you represent according to one study, um, the most religious state in the United States with the highest percentage of adherence in the country. This is according to Chem c Gardner Policy Institute. So 76% of Utahans identify as religious, which is 12% higher than Alabama, the next most religious state. So I just feel like as voters and people who are representing your citizens, that we should be aware of so many hundreds of thousands of citizens who this is important to. And of course, it's not important to a lot of your citizens, but it is for for many, many people. And I hope, I just hope that we can just think, yeah, this actually is not gonna affect the Utah taxpayer. It's not gonna affect productivity. Like this is not something that should be hard to pass. And, and we know that, we know, multiple studies show that citizens who are more religious are more prosperous. And so the things that we can do as, um, lawmakers to help support people who are religious just will help our state as a whole.

Now also saying this, I want you to know

Sure. I have like a 32nd comment if you have time.

Uh, can you hear me? I can hear you. Okay, great. Well, Landy, nailed it. Um, I'm representing South Mountain Community Church, which is, uh, has five locations across the state, probably 4,500 worshipers on any given Sunday. I'm friends with pastors across the state, um, mostly in the Salt Lake Valley. Uh, I have friends in the Catholic Orthodox Protestant LDS traditions, and it's clear to me that designating Good Friday as a state holiday would be very appreciated across the board, really for two reasons quickly. Number one, uh, to honor the most solemn day in the Christian calendar, recognizing the supreme sacrifice Jesus made for humanity, but also for practical reasons. It would allow people to either take the day off to reflect and participate in a service, uh, or petition their employer for time off to participate in a service. We have a lot, we have three Good Friday services coming up this year, and, uh, they're in the late afternoon into the early evening, and it would just make it easier for people. Uh, I know there are a lot of churches that do the same thing. Um, so just to have that as an option for people to be awesome.

Yeah, I would move that we adopt first substitute.

Yeah, I, I think that, you know, at times we get a little bit, uh, weary of holidays and things, you know, in, in terms of legislation. We, we get a little bit, a little bit antsy about having too many holidays and things like that. But if you're gonna look at the holidays, there's quite a few that I would swap this out for, uh, as, as a priority holiday. Um, I think it is, uh, essential to our, uh, I think it honors our background. I'd like to have it as a holiday. I like the school provisions that they align, that they, that they, to the extent possible align breaks with, with the, um, with this holiday. But, but I do think it's worth having it as a holiday. I think that our constituents generally would appreciate that. Um, and, and I think that it, it's not an establishment of a specific religion. I, I think if that was the, the rule, we couldn't have Christmas. Um, you know, and, and you know, I worked at a, at a predominantly Jewish law firm, and I loved celebrating the Jewish holidays with my, uh, Jewish friends and those that are in the state. I don't think they begrudge us having a Christmas holiday as a state holiday. And I don't think that there would be any begrudging of, uh, good Friday as, as a holiday. I appreciate the bill and I appreciate the sub and I hope that we'll move that forward. Uh, thank you.

You chair. I, uh, what we do here at the, in this house, this, this, this Senate house is very important, but what we enable the households across our state to do is much more critical. And, and I, this, this, I think, will lift and strengthen all. I appreciate the, the motion, appreciate the comments and the time of the committee. And I, that, that is my preferred, as I stated, my preferred substitute. Thank you.

I would also, uh, move that we recommend favorably first substitute.

No, I think, I think we've had a good conversation. Thank you.

Thank you. We, we, we've had a really good discussion. I think there's, there's been some great points made. Uh, again, as we look at the opportunity that's before us, I, I, I don't want to shrink from, from the opportunity. And there is, there is a united, uh, a really united support for this in, in moving forward. And we put in place we can be respectful to all, all face. And this is an opportunity to, to, uh, invite and encourage and I, I hope the committee will support it. Thank you.

Thank you for your patience, and sorry to cause the saunter. I busy. We, this last committee is, is, is a opportunity for all of us to try and, uh, I try and get in many places. Thank you. Committee. May I, we don't have a substitute or anything at this point. May, how would you like to proceed? Chair, Uh, just go ahead and, and, and, uh, present your bill. Yeah.

Thank you. Uh, There is so much that is good in Utah, and we know that across the nation we lead, uh, in our, in, in so many key ways have the Olympics coming. Uh, we, we have, uh, our challenges we're working through and, uh, working together. One of the things that we have is for many, many years there ha a state hasn't taken an action on, on, uh, reli religious liberty and freedom, uh, like this. But there are other states who are involved with, uh, similar 17 other states. But this is really an opportunity for us as a state to unify around a sound principle that's, uh, associated with our liberties and freedom. And I grateful to have my good friend, pastor with Bickel here with me today. And I'm going to turn the time to him chair to kind of set the foundation. And I would like to explain the, the nuances of, of what the legislation does. Would that be okay? Yep. Thank you. Thank You very much.

I'd just like to just kinda lay a foundation very quickly. When the founders came, when our first, our forefathers came the May Mayflower Compact, one of the very first documents was for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian religion and our Constitution. And now, uh, our declaration is almost 250 years old. And it's because it was founded on the principles and the truths of the word of God. There's no nation like our nation. American exceptionalism is really another way of saying God has smiled on our undertaking. The, uh, the seal of our nation is a new at cotus. It means God hath smiled on our undertaking, and he has. And the explanation for having a country such as ours is the hand of God has rested upon it. Daniel Webster said, finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed in its light and they labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles within the elements of their society and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, and literary. They believe that righteousness exalts a nation and that sin is a reproach to any people. Daniel Webster said, if we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering into prosper. But if we neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity, obscurity. And then Noah Webster said, and I think this is key today, it says, the principles of all genuine liberty and of wise laws and administrations are to be drawn from the Bible and sustained by its authority. The man, therefore, who weakens or destroys the divine authority of that book may be accessory to all the public disorders, which society is doomed to suffer. And I would say the three greatest days, and I would say at least 75% of the people of Utah believe the three most significant days in all of history was the birth of Jesus Christ. God said, but when the fullness of time was come, he sent forth his son, made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that are under the law. So that's the birth of Christ, and then the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We, we currently have, uh, I don't think it's outta the ordinary for our state or even our state to celebrate Christmas or maybe even give a day off or, um, even Easter, uh, the resurrection. But all three of these days are equally significant without any one of them then the greatest freedom fighter that ever stood on the face of this earth. The only one that could buy you eternal freedom. Um, if you miss any one of those days, you don't have the death, braille and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is where we really get freedom and what, what our entire nation was founded upon. So I would really encourage you to, uh, make this possibility and where I say it like that, because it seems to me like the way it's written. It's a, it's a choice whether, whether, um, people would choose to take advantage of this or not. But it's an option. It helps our, our state. Remember how we got here. Remember our creator.

Thank you, uh, pastor. I am grateful to, to get in the, the details of the bill. We, last year, we, we all of us, uh, passed and, and established a state holy days representing all faiths in our, the best we could all faiths in our state. Uh, the first thing that this bill does is it asks and invites our K through 12, uh, both charter and public school, as well as higher education to, uh, recognize and do their best to as they're setting the school year and identifying the days that the school will not be held to be sensitive to those days, to see how they can work and accommodate. The second thing. Then it also takes Good Friday, makes that a state hol, uh, holiday and then gives Allstate employees, uh, four hours of paid leaves had in effect it's a half day holiday. And there's other one, other one or two states that have done something like that to give those that would like to participate with their faith-based, uh, uh, faith-based orientation, uh, opportunity to consider and, and, and celebrate and, and, and recognize that sacred and significant day. Uh, with that, uh, chairs and committee. I'll be glad to, to yield.

Representative Cutler. Thank you, Mr. Chair. If, if an LEA does not make their schedule a align with this, what, what happens? Uh, they set their schedule that this coordinated their best, what, what their needs are. And that's that there's, there's not, it, it, And what if one of their teachers says, well, I want to take this off. Are they required to give them PTO for that or are they or required to use their other PTO? There is part of all State employees do have part of the, the Holy Day recognition. And that's again, the respect for all faith is that they can take a personal day, leave the bill. You thank you for the notation. And it, it, and the, uh, on line 1 24, it says, A state government entity or local government entity shall place a high priority on approving employer's request to take personal leave on a state holy day. The idea is that recognizing I, we, we don't, there, there circumstances are there we're not. We are, they're, they're doing what they can, but there's not a cause of action that would take place if it, if it's, if it's not in the, we're not able to take care of that request. Thanks. So if I understand, if let's say they work for the state board of education or state employee, then they get the half day off, uh, un under this bill PTO for that half day, if they work for, uh, another LEA that does not align their schedule, then they have to use their, uh, a PTO day or one, use their personal day to take the day off. Is that correct?

If they wanted the whole day off the bill passes, the, the half the half day would be considered available for all on. If it's Good Friday we're talking, if it's another day, then it would be yes. You, you'd have that opportunity to use your personal day.

Thank you. Yeah. We're talking Good Friday, but not, but you're, you, you'd like education entities to take that off, but they don't to, to schedule around that. Still let people there, but they don't have to. Right. It, It, it could be, I remember as a boy that, uh, we had, uh, celebration of Orange Day, the Hunter Hunter weekend. Half day would be taken off of school on the Friday before the annual deer hunt. But that's a different topic. But there, there are patterns where a half day is very workable. And I'm told you the cost of this with, with going from a full day to a half day, certainly a few million dollars rather than the $8 million is, was the estimate. I don't know what, how that fiscal note that,

that's a good question because fiscal note exactly zero that you look at, it's, this is not a fiscal note piece of legislation. I, I, I spoke with the, uh, analyst to explain that it, it, it doesn't cost the state because we're not paying additional money.

Yeah. But, uh, as it says, could cost state agencies up to 4.3 million, uh, in, in, in terms of lost or deferred outputs.

We're not, you're not paying any money out of pocket. Just the, the lost productivity.

And, and I wanted to state that Easter is my favorite holiday. It's what I think is most important. I I wish we could swap it for some other holidays. Yeah. By Columbus Day. Just kidding.

Uh, Gail Ika with Utah Eagle Farm, and I speaking in favor of this bill, I think it's, uh, you know, I have lots of friends that, uh, live in states where they do celebrate, uh, good Friday. And I think in putting this together, this is a good balance to offer a half a day. And it's an acknowledgement and it's, uh, something that, uh, uh, everybody can celebrate. And, you know, it's like Christmas, Christmas is a Christian holiday, but Christians aren't the only ones that celebrate it. Maybe some just celebrate the Santa Claus part of it and the presents, and maybe they do have something else that they acknowledge. The same thing would happen with Good Friday, you know, for, for Christians who wanna celebrate this day and it's a Christian holiday, but for the rest it can be Easter bunnies and eggs. But, uh, I don't think anybody, everybody is just treated the same. They can all get that half day off. And I imagine, uh, most people would enjoy having a three day weekend with Easter and, and, uh, being able to do even more with their family. 'cause I look at when there's time like this often, if the schools acknowledge it, it truly becomes a good family day. So please vote yes for this.

Thank you. I'm Lonnie Hilton and I am so excited to be here. And I wanna say that often you'll see bills that affect incomes that affect environment, but this doesn't do either. This affects the individual homes and families. And that is who I'm representing today. I just wanna tell you, this is not unprecedented. 17 of us states honor Good Friday as a legal or state holiday in some form, including California that honors it as a legal holiday from 12 to 3:00 PM So this is not a crazy idea. And last year, well, I'm sorry, Catholics have have observed this for centuries. And the Church of England and many countries have Good Friday as a national holiday. And the New York Stock Exchange has been closed on Good Friday for a long time. And in LDS circles down, H Oaks taught last year everyone, he invited everyone to improve their Easter traditions in their own family and in society as a whole. So a half day legal holiday would be a great step. So I wanna say frankly, like I normally am trying to be very polite, but frankly it's embarrassing that Utah is not on this list of states that honor Good Friday as a state holiday in some form. And I am not saying this, I happen to be a latter day saint, but I have Catholic and Protestant friends who would greatly appreciate this. 300,000 Catholics in Utah. And, um, I just wanna share, I don't know you individually if you are religious, but you represent the most religious state in the US according to one study. Um, 12% higher than the next religious high religious state. So I think that Utah law should reflect that. And I just will briefly share an experience I had as a parent. I've had as a parent the last couple years. If you have a, if you're a parent, does that mean my time is up? Yeah, it does. Unfortunately. You know what, let me give you, let me give you 30 more seconds. Okay, Perfect. So if you have a teenager, you know how hard it is to get teenagers to do some kind of extra worship. Well, the last couple years I've said, okay, I can check you outta school. But they don't wanna be checked outta school 'cause they have tests and they're, they take it seriously. And then I say, okay, we'll do something in the afternoon or evening and good Friday. Oh mom, we have all these extracurricular activities. It's crazy. Like, how come I have this obstacle when I just wanna worship? Thanks.

All right. Just briefly, um, pastor Mike Bell, I, I represent, uh, southbound Community Church, which has five campuses in Utah. My brother, pastor Alberto is there in the room with you. He represents our international campus. We have, um, anywhere around 4,500 worshipers on any given Sunday. Uh, I'm also friends with many of the pastors in Salt Lake, uh, in the valley and beyond. And I know, uh, many people in the Catholic Orthodox and LDS Communities of Utah. Uh, Lanny said it really well. Um, I just wanna capitalize on that. It just in saying that Good Friday is an essential part of the spiritual life of many people in all these groups, and it's clear to me that, uh, designating Good Friday is a, a partial state holiday would be very appreciated across the spectrum of these communities for mainly two reasons. Number one, to honor the most solemn day on the Christian calendar, recognizing the supreme sacrifice Jesus made for all humanity. And number two, it would be, uh, uh, just a practical way to allow people to either take the day partially off to reflect and participate in a service, or at the very least, petition their employer for time off to participate. Uh, many Good Friday services happen before the workday is over, so that would be very helpful. Um, thank you. And, um, I know a lot of people across the faith spectrum appreciate the state, uh, giving attention to this idea.

Whoa. Hello. Can you hear me? Okay. Perfect. Um, my name is Annemarie Hilton. I'm a student, um, living in, at Bete Brigham Main University student. Um, so that's kind of the perspective that I wanted to join an offer from just looking at academic calendars from 2024 to 2028, but Friday falls either a week or two after PYU Spring day, where we not have classes on a Friday, or it falls on the first week of finals. Um, and I do recognize that BYO is private school and not necessarily gonna be impacted by this. Looking at the University of Utah, um, it falls usually about a month in between their spring break and their finals week. Um, sometimes it's few as two weeks before or two weeks after. Um, and so I recognized higher institution schedules are hard because schools have to teach. Um, but I think having a bill that will help students be able to at least recognize, um, and to take this time, I think schools typically give days off. And so if these days could be prioritized, like the bill is saying, um, that that would be beneficial as a student where I'm not actively stressing about, um, finals and midterms on Good Friday, to be able to take that time, um, to go on your show. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, uh, I I normally oppose new holidays, particularly state holidays because it does, uh, put an undue pressure on private business who 80% of our businesses in this state are, are small business, and they have a hard time competing when the state continues to make it more appealing to, to work for the government. However, with that being said, I support this entire concept, I think, I think to, uh, to at least bring attention to Good Friday and the significant importance it is in the Christian world. I think it's, I think it's a unique approach. I am, I'm cognizant that it does have a physical note. Uh, well, it doesn't show a physical note, but it's still gonna cost the state because the state's going to have, have, uh, have to let people off. But, uh, but I support the concept because I think, I think anytime that we can redirect our focus to the things that are important to, to Christ and what he, um, what he lived for and what he died for, and, and so for that reason, I'm, I'm going to support the bill. Thank you.

Thank you. Chair. I'd like to reserve the right to make a motion. Okay. Um, with that said, I normally make against state holidays. In fact, I've been part of the efforts to kill state holidays when they come in front of this committee. Um, I'm looking at this not through a specific, um, uh, domination or even the Christianity spectrum. I think as we come to the end of the session, and we've talked about a lot of bills, a lot of policy, a lot of the process here. I think something's sort of coming for full circle for me, not just at this moment, just in the last couple days, but it's the importance of civility in our communities, in our culture, and across the state. And I think this, uh, gives an opportunity. This type of thing gives an opportunity. I like certain aspects in this, especially where you're not telling the schools to give time off. You're trying to say aligned. You're already, um, busy schedules with teacher prep days or whatever to make the Friday work. And, um, but what this day represents, which is looking past the conflict, looking past the people we disagree with, and finding ways that we can come together and, um, and, and focus on the civility that brings this together. And I appreciate that, and I'd like to make a motion.

Yeah. I'd like to make a motion, a positive motion positive recommendation for this bill to the full house.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I grew up in Tonga. I, um, when I moved here in 1986, um, it was around this time. In fact, two days from now, I would've been here 40 years. Um, but I remember that Easter had come around and I was so shocked to find an Easter basket with the bunny and chocolate and all these things because it was not something I was used to in other countries. I know that they take school off, they have holidays. I mean, Tonga celebrates Good Friday. New Zealand celebrates Good Friday, Australia, the UK schools are out. It was so shocking to me that a state like Utah would not be celebrating Good Friday, but the thing that they meant that they remembered most was the Easter Bunny. So I am so in favor of this. Thank you representative.

you, Mr. Chair. I preface this by saying I support the bill and thank the sponsor, especially for the bill Last year, I thought was a, also a wonderful, uh, um, stroke in the direction of according civility. As Representative Shallenberger mentioned a minute ago that we recognizing other faiths have holidays that they cherish as well. I think that's important for our state to do that. I think I, I just want to even, I do support the bill. I wanted to just, uh, explain maybe a slightly different take on it than maybe has been expressed thus far. The idea of religious liberty. Of course, I think everybody in the legislature, whom I'm acquainted with, uh, takes as a very sacred notion that the government needs to, um, not step in the realm of religion and not need needs to accord religious liberty, and also needs to not establish religion. We threw off that yoke from our European heritage as a culture, very importantly, where governments did establish religion. And there was intermixture between government and religion all the time, and was a very obnoxious notion to people who didn't subscribe to those majority face in those countries. And I just absolutely cherish this in our history. I know all of us do. People will sometimes say, this is a Christian nation. And I 100% believe in that. I also think a little bit differently about what that might mean to different people. Some people think that means the government is going to set up the Bible or as national scripture, or to have one unified faith. I don't believe that's what it means. I think a Christian government is one that accords religious liberty to people, even if they're not Christian. And I, I belong to a faith. I'm a sixth generation Utah. I belong to a faith that was thrown out of the United States, uh, a faith that believes and understands itself to be Christian, but which the majority in the country did not view as Christian and through 'em right out. So I think we have to bear that in mind when we talk about these things and, and discuss what it means to be a Christian nation. The first governor of our state, Brigham Young, said very clearly that a person, a Methodist, a Catholic, or a Muslim, would be just as safe in our borders as a, as a Christian. I think that's as a Mormon. And I think that's a, a great heritage to embrace and remember. Um, and when we establish religion, that means the government is telling us what to believe at our, at our, in our most private, in most thoughts about who God is and what he may expect from us. And, and it's important that we never let the government establish religion and tell us what to believe. I don't think this bill does that. I think this bill is according to, uh, the culture around it, it's tipping its hat in respect to the faith around it. I grew up, uh, mostly here in Utah, but for three years lived in Montreal where my dad had a job. And, uh, and I lived in a Jewish neighborhood and Uintah a Canadian public school. And we took all the Jewish holidays off, and I always thought the more of my Jewish friends for giving me those extra days off school. So I think this is, um, a proper respect for religion rather than an establishment of religion. And I think it dovetails with what the sponsor did last year in noting that there are other faiths in our midst who have other holidays. And so I just wanted to get that out there, uh, because I think it, it does touch on this topic. And, uh, anyway, thank you.

Well, thank you Chair as noted. And I'm grateful for the motion, as noted in the motion. There's all, there's some subs and, uh, it's been a wrestle to get to where we are, but we're in the, I think the best place to the good. Uh, my good, good colleague, uh, Representative Owens the respect. I think a fundamental aspect of Christianity is the respect of all religions. And that is reflected here. This is not my bill. Uh, it's not, uh, any time someone votes, it becomes their bill as well. And that thing we did last year, we did together. And, uh, I was so touched with, uh, the work and effort of, of the Senate and my Colleagues on both sides of the aisle. You, you can see from the vote there, we need to be unified. And we are best, we are our best version as we are unified. And so I would invite you to join and make this your bill and vote in favor of this. And if it passes here, hopefully we can get it out of the house and be our bill. And, uh, put our best foot forward. I feelt a sacred covenant as a state we have made to be a light to this nation and this world. Thank you.

to the maker of the motion. I'll waive.

that our, our Judeo-Christian heritage, our, the, the strength of the world, biblical view and all that, that brings. And, and over 75% of our state, uh, affiliate with, uh, uh, uh, uh, Christian faith tradition and certainly in respect to all those that have other traditions. But what we're doing here is we're, uh, considering having a good Friday, which has become a remarkable, uh, day, uh, celebrated by those of these faith traditions. I appreciated the work in our, uh, committee. We had some great testimony. One was from a pastor that represents several, uh, community churches. And he talked about, uh, this, he, he said, uh, good Friday is an essential part of the spiritual life of many people in, in the groups he's representing. It's clear to me that does any good Fridays a state holiday would be very appropriate across the spectrum of those communities to honor the most solemn day on Christian calendar, recognizing the supreme sacrifice of Jesus made for all humanity. And number two, would practically allow people to allow to either take the day off or affect and participate. We have had some discussion on some other bills about our good state employees and what they, who they are. And the strength of our society is really built upon the good work of our, of our state employees. This gives us an opportunity to express our appreciation and recognition of their great work oftentimes in the strong economy and all the good that's taking place as I meet with the employees in, in our companies that they'll often say, rather than a increase of income, gimme another day with my family. Well, this strikes a wonderful balance. It also invites our educational community to, uh, respect and honor as best they can with their days off. So there's a great alignment here. And with that, Mr. President, I'll be glad to yield.

Thank you Mr. President. Last year we heard this same bill and idea and we came together as a, as a legislature. We crafted a compromise and the sponsor addressed that compromise. We created a list of state holy days. Uh, we inserted language that allowed for, uh, state employees to use like a floating holiday with which they could choose to use to celebrate this, uh, this or any other holy day that they wanted to celebrate. I think that was the right policy. What this bill has turned into is less, uh, recognition of Good Friday, which we did last year. Um, but rather a way to give, uh, state employees another paid day off. Uh, and in the context of, uh, you know, of the, the leave that they've already got, the changes that are making there, I think this bill is premature. Uh, and honestly get, it's, it, uh, undermines the compromise that was put together last year. Uh, rather than add another to, to highlight Good Friday, if we wanted to make that like an optional state holiday, we should find what other state holiday is less important than Good Friday and swap that out, or give the employees the ability to choose one or the other. But in this circumstance where we have already taken steps to recognize Good Friday, we put it in the code. Last year, we offered employees the option to take it off if they wanted to last year. Uh, I, I think that this is, uh, the wrong step at this point.

Thank you, Mr. President. Um, you know, as we look across the state and we deal with all the districts, not every district wants to have the same week off. And, uh, it's actually been nice to have varying weekend weeks off the holidays. Um, I think a lot of our school districts would find this to be problematic for creating their calendar. Uh, I didn't really know that one of the most contentious committees you can be on in a school district is the calendar committee. Uh, everybody wants to come to school after Labor Day and be off of school before Memorial Day, but then still have 190 days of instruction before they have to end the year. So, um, although I do appreciate the, um, the intent, I do think this might create a stressful environment for some of our school districts with taking an extra day and putting that into the calendar. That now has to be a day off. So, uh, with that I'll probably be a no. Thank you so much.

Thank, thank you Mr. President. I appreciate the discussion and, and the comments. I just note to good Senator Rebe, that, that it's not, what we're doing with this on our K through 12 and higher ed is they have many days that they don't have school. And what we're doing here, it's not a mandate to, an invitation to try and recognize not only this, but the holy days we've identified and the good Senator Fillmore's point last year, we really, in order to, the intent has always been to work towards this, this, this most important day. You know, it, there's leaders of all faced are talking about how important it's to improve our Easter traditions in our family. And in our society as a whole, it's a environment that we face today. And I would not want us to shrink from this opportunity to, to take this step. We did create a great foundation last year. I didn't recognize there was a negotiated settlement that was, I was a sponsor of it. This is the first time we've had it, uh, to this, this legislation on the full Senate. And, uh, appreciate the opportunity. There are options if we wanna pass it. There's other options of having a partial holiday during the afternoon. There's other options, but I think this is a good place. Love to love and ask for the support of the Senate in, in this, this effort. Thank you, Mr. President. I move that this Senate Bill 1 93, be read for the third time.

Senator Vickers Baldy Lewin Brammer Bus Cullimore Escamia Fillmore Grover Harper Hankins Ipson Johnson. Aye. Juab McKay. A. Mikel Milner. Musselman Aye. Owens Aye. Pitcher. Lum Rebe. Sandal Aye. Stevenson Stratton. Yes. Vickers. Weiler Wilson. Aye. Winterton Picture No. President Adams Aye.

they take a half a day. And so what, what amendment one does, it leaves the bill. Uh, the same in that we, we are encouraging our charter schools K through 12 and higher ed to be sensitive to our good, uh, holy days as they do their calendar, the best they can to, to, uh, look at those days if possible. And then it also, what the amendment will do, it'll give a four hour vacation, a half day vacation for on, on, uh, on this holiday on the Good Friday. So with, that's the amendment. And I appreciate the support in amending the bill.

No. Mr. President, I think we've had some good discussions. I I really respect this body and, uh, grateful for the opportunity to visit and counsel with them. And I think it's in as the best place it can be at this point. So I'll, I'll waive.

I would like to call the Senate if I may.

Thank you Mr. President. I move that we pass first substitute SB 1 93 State legal halls as amended.

Senator Vickers Baldry Lewin B Brammer Bus Cullimore A Es. Camilla Aye. Fillmore Rover Aye. Harper Aye. Kins Ipson Johnson. Aye. K Juab McKay Mikel Milner Musman Owens pitcher Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Aye. Bickers er Wilson. Aye. Winterton President Adams Aye.

You. Thank you. Motion to encircle Senate bill 2 52.

First substitute Senate bill 2 52.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. You know, being part of this legislature, I, I've been impressed about many of the things we've been able to participate in and, and witness one of them is when we start our, our day, we offer a prayer. And it's not just the main Christian prayer that we typically hear in the state. We've just, a few days ago, we gotta hear a prayer from the Native Americans, which I thought was pretty cool. Um, when it was my turn, we had some Roman Orthodox say, a prayer. Um, we've been exposed to a lot of these things because religion is a, is a strong part of our, our culture, and it's a strong part of ourselves. Um, we're number one in a lot in this, in this Utah, it's number one in a lot of different categories. It's also number one as the most religious state in America, at 76% of Utahns claim to have religious as an important part of their, their faith. The next one is, is 12% down, and that's Alabama. Now, when I first saw this piece, I was, I was kind of concerned about, you know, another state holiday. But taking time to reevaluate who we are and what we stand for, I feel like is extremely important. 17 other states actually celebrate this same holiday, and it's recognizing Good Friday as a state holiday. And it's asking schools to coordinate their days off with Holy Days, which are listed in our current code under 60 3G dash one dash 1301. And there's from Hindu Boo, um, Muslim, Jewish, Yom, Kipper, you know, Diwali, all those different holidays that are important to individuals that we kind of recognize those and see if we can coordinate. Now in my own faith, um, a few years ago we've been advised, I've been advised to, um, make Easter time as important as Christmas. And I took that to heart and I feel like it's made a big difference in my life. We have so many things going on in our life. We're busy with work with the legislature, with other things that take a moment to reflect on what you may feel is important in your own heart. This bill is, is aims to do that, and it gives good Friday, the beginning of the Easter season as a state holiday. With that, I move to questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this bill. Um, I grew up in Tonga and 40 years ago today marks the day that I moved here to Utah. Um, my first Easter we had, I mean, my first Easter here, um, I was actually kind of confused to get an Easter basket with a bunny and with, um, with chocolate. Um, I didn't complain, but I thought it was really cool that there was something like an Easter bunny. Although growing up in Tonga, we had no, like, there was no school. We had Easter break because of Good Friday. It is celebrated around the world. It is not just an LDS specific, um, holiday. And I know that, uh, when we celebrate it, it's not looked at necessarily as a religious thing, but just more of a celebration of that specific day. So I hope we'll be in support of this bill.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to briefly speak in favor of this bill. I know that, uh, having worked in Arizona and New Mexico, Texas, uh, good Friday was a very important holiday there. We even celebrated Good Friday in Bangladesh. We certainly did in, in South America. So I think it's good that Utah catch up to maybe most of the rest of the world.

Motion to amend.

I'm on the first substitute, yes. So line 62. Okay. I'd like to strike Strike Washington and Lincoln and replace it with presidents.

And, uh, replace it with presidents.

Yes. You know, it's my last day here in the legislature and it has always kind of bothered me that we haven't had this called President's Day. That's the name of it as a federal holiday, and we've had a lot of incredible presidents. So I think we can go ahead and align it while we have this section of code open.

I, I think that's a friendly motion.

Is that correct? No. Okay.

No, thank you. Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this bill. And as somebody who does not actually subscribe to any religion, you might be surprised that I am very in support of this bill and excited for the opportunity to speak to it. Um, specifically to allegations that this is a betrayal of the division or the separation of church and state. Um, I, as somebody who does not, is not of the local predominant religion. I did grow up Catholic, and so Good Friday was one of the most important holidays as Easter was the most hol important holiday of the year. Um, I, I think that this goes beyond subscribing to a specific religion, be it Catholicism or any other, but more just a recognition that it is not outside the restrictions of a state government to recognize tradition in our state. Um, if, if we're gonna dive deep into some, you know, argument that this is a betrayal of that separation, I would, I would remind people that this does not establish a state religion, nor does it require a religious test for citizenship. That is the separation of church and state. And I believe that, um, that is an important measure. It is one that I think that we should all appropriately subscribed to. Um, but just want to recognize that I respect everybody's faith tradition in here. I am grateful that you respect my own and that we could pass a bill like this in collaboration and in a solid voice. Um, just recognizing that, you know, that these, these differences are what make our body stronger and more interesting to be a part of. And so I'm grateful to the sponsors for bringing this

Thank you. I really appreciate the comments that have been made in this, this for this bill. Um, I, I take this one to heart and I think it's an opportunity for us to recognize, um, our faith no matter what it is, if it's Jewish or, or different dominations of the Christian religion, that we can take time to reflect on what is greater than ourselves. Um, when I look into the other states that recognizes even the land of heathens, California recognizes this holiday. So anyway, hope no one's from California here. But anyway, uh, I, I do think it's a time for us to stand up for what we are proud of. And we are many things that we're proud of are the way we run our, our economy, the way we run our businesses, but also what we stand, what we know to be true or important to us in our hearts. And I encourage our constituents to vote for this. Thank you.