PRINTER'S NO. 252
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
296
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY RABB, BULLOCK, KINSEY, SANCHEZ, MADDEN, BELLMON,
CEPEDA-FREYTIZ, SAPPEY, KHAN, HILL-EVANS, DELLOSO, N. NELSON
AND OTTEN, MARCH 10, 2023
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 10, 2023
AN ACT
Designating the first Monday in February each year as
Emancipation Day in this Commonwealth.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Emancipation
Day Act.
Section 2. Legislative findings.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, which abolished slavery, passed the United
States Senate on April 8, 1864, and the United States House
of Representatives on January 31, 1865.
(2) President Abraham Lincoln approved a joint
resolution of Congress which was submitted to the state
legislatures for ratification, a process which requires an
affirmative vote from three-fourths of the states in order to
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amend the Constitution.
(3) Pennsylvania was one of the first states to approve
the measure as the General Assembly voted in support of
ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment and forever prohibiting
slavery within the United States on February 3, 1865.
(4) Pennsylvania's role as a leader in the abolishment
of slavery following the State's enactment of the Gradual
Abolition Act of 1780 helped contribute to the success of the
adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment.
(5) On the condition of ratifying the amendment to be
readmitted to the Union, Alabama became the 27th state to
ratify the Thirteenth Amendment on December 2, 1865, giving
the amendment the required approval of a three-fourths
majority of states to effectively abolish slavery in the
United States.
(6) The adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment found a
final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery and, in
tandem with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, greatly
expanded civil rights for Black Americans.
(7) The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments,
which abolished slavery, guaranteed equal protection under
the law and granted the right to vote, are known as the
Reconstruction Amendments.
(8) Following the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Amendments, many Black men and women had a
newfound freedom that they celebrated and valued.
(9) Numerous Black individuals actively took up the
rights and opportunities of citizenship and held elected
government offices, including United States Senators and
Representatives.
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Section 3. Designation.
The first Monday in February each year is designated as
Emancipation Day in this Commonwealth.
Section 4. Construction.
Nothing in this act shall be construed as requiring an
employer to treat the first Monday in February as a legal or
official holiday or to provide paid leave to an employee on the
first Monday in February solely by virtue of the date being
designated under this act.
Section 5. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
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