SB22-139 Summary

• Establishes June 19 (Juneteenth) as an official Colorado state legal holiday to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved Black people announced in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865.

• Amends Colorado Revised Statutes sections 5-1-301, 6-1-102, and 24-11-101 to add Juneteenth to the list of days excluded from the definition of "business day" and recognized as legal holidays.

• Declares Juneteenth as the first federal holiday added since Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday recognition in 1983, commemorating the delayed arrival of emancipation news to enslaved people in areas not reached by the Emancipation Proclamation until nearly two and a half years after its January 1, 1863 issuance.

• Provides legislative findings that Juneteenth remained largely unknown to most Americans despite long-standing celebration in African American communities, with historical celebrations including church services, readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, and social events.