California expands Native American Day into paid holiday for state workers
By Cecilio Padilla
California’s Native American Day is set to become a paid holiday for state workers under legislation signed Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
AB 1841 would make Native American Day, observed each year on the fourth Friday of September, a paid holiday for state employees once lawmakers provide funding for it.
Newsom said in a statement that the legislation reflects California’s reckoning with its treatment of Native people and its efforts to build a stronger relationship with tribes.
“We have great remorse over the violent beginnings of this state [and] a strong commitment to forging a better path forward together,” Newsom said.
Native American Day itself is not new. California has recognized the fourth Friday of September as a legal holiday since 1998.
What changes under AB 1841 is how the day is treated for state workers.
Until now, Native American Day has not been a regular paid holiday for most state workers. Employees have instead been allowed to use personal-holiday credit to take the day off.
California courts already close for Native American Day. A 2021 law made it a judicial holiday beginning in 2022, replacing Columbus Day on the court calendar without adding another paid day off for court employees.
AB 1841, authored by Assemblymember James Ramos, also allows state bargaining units to negotiate Native American Day as a paid holiday. The broader statewide benefit would still require funding from the Legislature.
The measure was part of a package of laws Newsom signed Friday involving California tribes.
“The additional bills signed today advance important policies in higher education, protecting Indian children, and continuing to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis,” Ramos said in a statement.
The package also included a bill extending the state’s formal apology for historical violence and other harms against Native Americans to the Legislature and courts, along with a separate law making the Governor’s Office of Tribal Affairs permanent.
