BS BULLETIN:
- California’s AB 2017 would officially recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays and allow public schools and community colleges to close for both observances.
- The measure passed the Assembly 64-1 and is now awaiting final Senate action as lawmakers race toward Monday’s end-of-session deadline.
- The proposal would also let eligible state employees substitute existing holiday credits to observe Eid — but it does not create a blanket new paid holiday for California’s private-sector workforce.
California lawmakers are running out of time to put two Muslim holidays on the state’s official calendar.
But they are very close.
Assembly Bill 2017 would formally recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as California state holidays, permit public schools and community colleges to close for them and give state employees another option for using existing holiday credits.
The bill passed the Assembly by an overwhelming 64-1 vote in May.
After being amended in the Senate last week, it was ordered to a third reading Friday. Now it has to clear the Senate before California’s legislative session ends Monday if supporters want to put it on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
The Daily BS covered the proposal when it was moving through Sacramento in July, when much of the controversy centered on provisions allowing schools to acknowledge and celebrate the meaning of the Islamic holidays.
Now it’s decision time.
“California is home to one of the largest and most vibrant Muslim communities in the country, and their traditions deserve recognition and respect,” Democratic Assemblyman Matt Haney said when introducing the legislation. “No student should have to choose between celebrating one of the holiest days of their faith and showing up to school, and no worker should feel they have to sacrifice their religious observance.”
The school provision is optional.
The legislation says public schools “may be closed” for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha if the local governing board agrees to the closure through the required memorandum-of-understanding process. Community colleges would receive similar authority.
State employees covered by the provision could elect to receive eight hours of holiday credit for Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha in place of an existing personal-holiday credit — similar to options California already provides for observances including Lunar New Year and Diwali.
Private employers, meanwhile, are not generally required under California law to close or provide paid holidays.
The more contentious part of AB 2017 has been what can happen inside schools that remain open. Critics, including the California Family Council, have objected to provisions permitting schools to conduct exercises “acknowledging and celebrating the meaning and importance” of the Eid holidays.
Their complaint isn’t simply that Islam is being recognized. It’s that California spent years emphasizing religious neutrality in public schools, while this legislation explicitly authorizes activities celebrating particular religious observances.
“No California statute authorizes public schools to hold exercises celebrating the meaning of Christmas, Easter, or Good Friday,” the group argued in opposing the legislation.
Supporters see equality instead.
“For decades, Muslim families across the state have had to navigate an unfair balancing act between their faith and their academic or professional obligations,” CAIR-California’s Oussama Mokeddem said in a statement quoted by Fox News.
And that’s where Sacramento has arrived: Two Islamic holidays. Optional school closings. Holiday-credit flexibility for state workers. And a debate over whether California is accommodating religion — or picking which religions public schools are encouraged to celebrate.
If the Senate says yes Monday, Newsom gets the next word.
MY QUICK TAKE
I’m all for letting Americans practice their religion without having to choose between faith and a paycheck or a school attendance record.
But California always manages to find the extra ingredient.
Excused absence? Fine.
Flexible holiday credit? Fine.
But once government starts writing rules about public schools “celebrating” religious holidays, somebody is entitled to ask a pretty obvious question:
Would Sacramento write the same language about Easter?
DBS WIRE SOURCES
- Fox News — California Bill Recognizing 2 Islamic Holidays Nears Newsom’s Desk
- CalMatters Digital Democracy — AB 2017: State Holidays: Eid
- California Legislative Information — AB 2017
- California Department of Human Resources — State Holidays
- The Daily BS — California Moves to Put Muslim Holy Days in Classrooms: What Happened to Religious Neutrality?
