Mark your calendars … for next year.
The Utah legislature has approved Good Friday to become the newest state holiday but the bill doesn’t go into effect until May, meaning it won’t apply to Good Friday this year. It also must first be signed by Gov. Spencer Cox.
SB193 to make Good Friday a state legal holiday failed in both Senate committee and on the Senate floor but it was resurrected both times. It passed through the House with a vote of 57 to nine.
Sen. Keven Stratton, R-Orem, sponsored the bill and said it was because he has a belief in the power of religious liberty. Good Friday always falls on the Friday before Easter Sunday.
Originally the bill gave the full day off for state employees and other businesses who opted in. It was amended to give employees a half day off. Stratton referred to it as a “four-hour vacation.”
As it has made its way through the Legislature, the bill has gone through a number of changes.
“I think it’s in the best place it can be at this point,” Stratton said.
Along with making Good Friday a legal holiday, SB193 also asks school districts and higher education institutions to prioritize planning their breaks around Good Friday and a number of other state holy days that were put into law last year.
There was also a bill introduced to make Election Day a state holiday but that bill failed to pass in the House.
During the House’s discussion of the Good Friday bill, Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, spoke in favor of the bill even though she said she does not subscribe to any religion herself. She emphasized the separation of church and state and said that the bill does not establish a state religion or tie religion to citizenship.
“I respect everybody’s faith tradition in here. I am grateful that you respect my own and that we can pass a bill like this in collaboration and in a solid voice, just recognizing that these differences are what make our body stronger and more interesting to be a part of,” she said.