Council votes to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for Jacksonville city workers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Members of the Jacksonville City Council voted Tuesday 16-2 successful favour of making Juneteenth a paid vacation for metropolis workers.

Juneteenth, which is June 19, is the accepted commemoration day of the emancipation of enslaved radical successful the United States. On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed authorities making it a U.S. national holiday.

Council members Rory Diamond and Al Ferraro were the “no” votes.

“It’s virtually millions of dollars thrown distant today, and that’s brainsick to maine for connected a nationalist holiday, but surely observe Juneteenth. I’m each astir it,” Diamond said.

“I afloat enactment doing thing for Juneteenth. I conscionable don’t cognize if fixed a paid vacation to employees is celebrating Juneteenth,” Ferraro said. “Right now, the mode I’m looking astatine it, I can’t enactment this bill.”

Brian Hughes, main of unit for Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, was called up to explicate the costs associated.

“The outgo of immoderate time of the year, arsenic a outgo of employees, is $1.8 million. So that is budgeted for, regardless,” Hughes said.

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“This is simply a precise important day,” said Councilwoman Randy DeFoor. “And what I privation we had an accidental to bash was to look astatine each the holidays and spot if Columbus Day oregon immoderate of the different -- possibly we request to place what days are truly astir important to us, arsenic a assemblage and springiness those days, the attraction and the payroll. I’m going to enactment it today, but I anticipation adjacent twelvemonth we look astatine our holidays. Because it is simply a time oregon nary services are going to beryllium fixed to our citizens. And fto maine archer you, they’re working.”

The vacation besides has been called Juneteenth Independence Day oregon Freedom Day. President Abraham Lincoln archetypal issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring each slaves escaped successful Confederate territory connected Sept. 22, 1862, but the quality took clip to travel. June 19, 1865, is the day erstwhile connection of the proclamation reached African Americans successful Texas.

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