Florida Senate - 2021                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 490
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì651128&Î651128                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                  Floor: WD            .                                
             04/20/2021 02:24 PM       .                                
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       Senator Bracy moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 40 - 47
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Present paragraphs (k) through (m) and (n)
    6  through (u) of subsection (1) of section 683.01, Florida
    7  Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs (l) through (n) and (p)
    8  through (w), respectively, and new paragraphs (k) and (o) are
    9  added to that subsection, to read:
   10         683.01 Legal holidays.—
   11         (1) The legal holidays, which are also public holidays, are
   12  the following:
   13         (k) Emancipation Day, May 20.
   14         (o) Juneteenth Day, June 19.
   15  
   16  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   17  And the title is amended as follows:
   18         Delete lines 3 - 36
   19  and insert:
   20         F.S.; designating Emancipation Day as a legal holiday;
   21         designating Juneteenth Day as a legal holiday;
   22         repealing s. 683.21, F.S., relating to Juneteenth Day;
   23         deleting provisions designating Juneteenth Day as a
   24         special observance, to conform to changes made by the
   25         act; providing an effective date.
   26  
   27         WHEREAS, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln
   28  issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which afforded free status
   29  under federal law to the millions of enslaved African Americans
   30  who resided in states that had seceded from the Union, including
   31  Florida, and
   32         WHEREAS, despite the issuance of the Emancipation
   33  Proclamation, it was not fully enforced in certain regions of
   34  the United States for more than 2 years afterward, and
   35         WHEREAS, on or about June 19, 1865, federal authorities
   36  arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation
   37  Proclamation and further inform slaves that the Civil War had
   38  ended and that the enslaved were now free, and
   39         WHEREAS, thereafter, former slaves and their descendants
   40  continued to commemorate each June 19 to celebrate freedom and
   41  the emancipation of all slaves in the United States, and
   42         WHEREAS, emancipation in Florida was proclaimed in
   43  Tallahassee on May 20, 1865, and for this reason Floridians
   44  traditionally celebrate Emancipation Day on May 20 of each year,
   45  and
   46         WHEREAS, in 1991, the Florida Legislature officially
   47  designated June 19 of each year as “Juneteenth Day” to
   48  commemorate the freeing of slaves, but did not designate the day
   49  as an official legal holiday, and
   50         WHEREAS, this act designates Emancipation Day and
   51  Juneteenth Day as legal holidays in this state to commemorate
   52  the announcement of the abolition of slavery and to recognize
   53  the significant contributions of African Americans to this state
   54  and our nation, NOW, THEREFORE,