Lexington lawmaker will attempt again to make Juneteenth a state holiday

Kentucky Rep. George Brown, D-Lexington, says he will file legislation in 2025 to try and establish Juneteenth as an official state holiday.

Past efforts to do so have failed.

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, commemorating the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free in Galveston, Texas.

President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, in 1863, but it was not immediately enforced in many areas of the South.

In late May, Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order making Juneteenth an executive branch holiday.

Meanwhile, the Legislative Research Commission announced in early June it will “remain open during regular office hours” on Juneteenth and “committee meetings for that day will proceed as scheduled.”

There are two committee meetings scheduled for that day.

Sarah Ladd

Reporter at Kentucky Lantern

Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist and Kentuckian. She has covered everything from crime to higher education. In 2020, she started reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has covered health ever since.