S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    550
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              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:

   Section 1.  Legislative findings. The Legislature finds  and  declares
 the following:
   1. On Wednesday, January 6th, 2021, the President of the United States
 at  the  time, Donald J. Trump, members of his administration and presi-
 dential campaign, and several Republican Members of  Congress,  directly
 incited  and  encouraged  an  armed and violent insurrection against the
 government of the United States, with the express purpose of  preventing
 the peaceful transfer of power and overturning the results of a free and
 fair election.
   2.  In  the  months  leading  up to January 6th, the former President,
 members of his administration,  and  numerous  elected  members  of  his
 party,  intentionally spread false and inflammatory claims regarding the
 legitimacy of the election, and both implicitly and explicitly  promised
 violent or armed opposition to prevent the election from being certified
 and the President-Elect from taking office.
   3.  In  the course of their attack, the insurrectionists trespassed on
 and destroyed Federal property, including flagrantly looting  the  Capi-
 tol,  and  openly  bragged  about  their  exploits  on social media. The
 attackers carried white supremacist symbols including the flag known  as
 the  "Confederate  battle  flag,"  as well as anti-Semitic, fascist, and
 neo-nazi ideology. At the same time as many were carrying these  symbols
 of the enemies of the United States, some of the attackers were observed
 removing  the  flag of the United States, throwing it to the ground, and
 replacing it with a flag bearing the name of President Donald J. Trump.
   4. One hundred thirty-eight police officers were injured defending the
 Capitol, and four insurrectionists and a Capitol Police officer died. In
 the months that followed the  attack,  four  additional  Capitol  Police
 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
 
 arrested in connection with the attack, however those  most  responsible
 have avoided accountability.
   5.  It  is the intent of the legislature to establish an annual day of
 commemoration to be known as Democracy Day,  to  honor  those  who  were
 wounded or died as a result of defending the Capitol, reiterate the need
 to protect and strengthen our democratic institutions, and recognize the
 ongoing  threat of anti-democratic, white nationalist, and authoritarian
 movements in the United States.
   § 2.  Subdivision 3 of section 168-a of the executive law, as  amended
 by chapter 237 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  The  following  days  shall be days of commemoration in each year:
 January sixth, to be known as "Haym Salomon Day", AND ALSO TO  BE  KNOWN
 AS  "DEMOCRACY  DAY",  January twenty-seventh, to be known as "Holocaust
 Remembrance Day", February fourth, to be  known  as  "Rosa  Parks  Day",
 February  fifteenth,  to  be  known  as "Susan B. Anthony Day", February
 sixteenth, to be known as "Lithuanian Independence Day", February  twen-
 ty-eighth,  to be known as "Gulf War Veterans' Day", March fourth, to be
 known as "Pulaski Day", March tenth, to  be  known  as  "Harriet  Tubman
 Day",  March twenty-ninth, to be known as "Vietnam Veterans' Day", April
 ninth, to be known as "POW Recognition Day", April twenty-seventh, to be
 known as "Coretta Scott King Day", April twenty-eighth, to be  known  as
 "Workers'  Memorial  Day",  the first Tuesday in May to be known as "New
 York State Teacher Day", May seventeenth, to be known as "Thurgood Mars-
 hall Day", the first Sunday in June, to be known  as  "Children's  Day",
 June second, to be known as "Italian Independence Day", June twelfth, to
 be  known  as  "Women  Veterans Recognition Day", June nineteenth, to be
 known as "Juneteenth Freedom Day", June twenty-fifth,  to  be  known  as
 "Korean  War  Veterans'  Day", the second Monday in July, to be known as
 "Abolition Commemoration Day", August  twenty-fourth,  to  be  known  as
 "Ukrainian  Independence  Day",  August  twenty-sixth,  to  be  known as
 "Women's Equality Day", September eleventh, to be known  as  "Battle  of
 Plattsburgh  Day"  and  also  to be known as "September 11th Remembrance
 Day", September thirteenth, to be known as "John Barry Day" and also  to
 be  known  as "Uncle Sam Day in the State of New York", September seven-
 teenth, to be known as "Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Memorial Day", the
 third Friday in September to be known as "New York State POW/MIA  Recog-
 nition  Day" except if such date of commemoration cannot be observed due
 to a religious holiday, such observances shall then be conducted on  the
 second  Friday of September, the last Saturday in September, to be known
 as "War of 1812  Day",  the  fourth  Saturday  of  September,  known  as
 "Native-American  Day",  the  last  Sunday  in September, to be known as
 "Gold Star Mothers' Day", October fifth, to be known as  "Raoul  Wallen-
 berg  Day",  October eleventh, to be known as "New Netherland Day in the
 State of New York", October eighteenth, to  be  known  as  "Disabilities
 History Day", October twenty-seventh, to be known as "Theodore Roosevelt
 Day", November ninth, to be known as "Witness for Tolerance Day", Novem-
 ber  twelfth,  to  be  known  as "Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day", the third
 Tuesday in November to  be  known  as  "New  York  State  School-Related
 Professionals  Recognition  Day",  November  thirtieth,  to  be known as
 "Shirley Chisholm Day", December third, to be  known  as  "International
 Day  of  Persons  with  Disabilities",  December seventh, to be known as
 "Pearl Harbor Day", December sixteenth, to be known  as  "Bastogne  Day"
 and  that  day  of the Asian lunar calendar designated as new year to be
 known as "Asian New Year".
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.