SACRAMENTO—A key policy committee today approved a measure in the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization to make California Native American Day a paid holiday – celebrated annually on the fourth Friday of September – for state employees. Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) introduced the bill, AB 989, which made it out of committee on a 20-0 vote. It will next go to the Committee on Public Employment and Retirement.
Ramos, a member of the Serrano/Cahuilla tribe, is the first California Native American lawmaker elected in the state’s almost 175-year history. He has been laboring to enact a California Native American Day since 1998. The Assembly committee analysis of AB 989, provides the following background:
Native American Day began in California in 1939, when Governor Culbert Olson dedicated October 1st as “Indian Day.” In 1968, Governor Ronald Reagan signed a resolution calling for a holiday called American Indian Day, to be held the Fourth Friday in September. In 1998, the California legislature passed, and the Governor signed AB 1953 (Baca) which changed the name of American Indian Day to Native American Day, and authorized public schools to provide instruction on the contributions of Native Americans. Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., in 2011 wrote a Governor’s Proclamation highlighting this momentous and important day. Since 2014, with the passage of AB 1973 (R. Hernández), Chapter 537, Statutes of 2014, California has recognized the fourth Friday in September as "Native American Day" as an official state holiday, albeit a holiday that does not directly provide for paid time off for any state employee.
Ramos said, “I was a San Manuel council member when I started working toward this goal with then-Senator Joe Baca Sr. “This is one more step forward in recognizing and building knowledge about the history, culture and contributions of California’s Native Americans.”
In 2021, he successfully authored AB 855 that created a paid judicial holiday. The legislation did not include other state personnel because they are governed by a different statutory code section. Ramos noted, “California Native American history is California history, and the current unpaid holiday designation is an inadequate acknowledgment of the state’s First People and their millennia-long presence, saga and stewardship of the lands now known as California.”
Supporters include Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe of California, California Consortium for Urban Indian Health, Chalon Indian Nation of California, Elk Valley Rancheria, California as well as Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, Indigenous Justice, Mongo Band of Mission Indians and Native Development Network.
###
Assemblymember James C. Ramos proudly represents the 45th Assembly district that includes the Cities of Fontana, Highland, Mentone, Redlands, Rialto and San Bernardino. He is the first and only California Native American serving in the state’s legislature. Ramos chairs the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #6 on Public Safety.