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California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that formally recognizes two Muslim holidays as state holidays on Sunday, making it the second state to formally recognize both holidays statewide.
California Assembly Bill 2017 officially added Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to the list of state holidays, which would permit public schools and colleges to close and allow state employees to be eligible to observe the holidays.
However, schools and businesses will not be required to close on these days, and courts will be required to stay open.
This makes California the second state in the country, after Washington state, to pass statewide legislation recognizing the Muslim holidays.
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Before signing AB 2017, Newsom had multiple bills on his desk that provided protections and exceptions for other religious observances, including Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
For example, AB 395, which reached the governor days before AB 2017, would codify these Jewish holidays, among others, into state law and require state agencies and facilities like schools to “make every reasonable effort” to avoid scheduling significant functions for those days.
Another bill, AB 1763, would also guarantee students in K-12 be allowed excused absences for religious holidays.
Though these bills were introduced and presented to the governor before AB 2017, Newsom did not sign the additional bills into law until Wednesday, prior to the midnight deadline.
Republican opponents criticized Newsom for appearing to prioritize bills recognizing Muslim holidays over bills allowing for equal treatment for Jewish holidays.
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“The fact that Newsom chose to sign the Eid law before the law that protected other religious observance speaks volumes about the direction he is moving as he eyes a 2028 run for the presidency,” Elizabeth Barcohana, chair of Jewish engagement for the California Republican Party, told Cleveland Jewish News (JNS) Thursday.
She also warned that these laws would give Muslim holidays additional privileges not afforded to other religions, which could include closing schools.
“People may think this is alarmist, but this is an example of American laws adopting a Sharia law framework,” Barcohana told JNS. “Special protections no other religious observance receives, the option to shut down public institutions to observe the holiday that, until now, only Christian holidays received and curriculum in public schools that is religious in nature notably about a religion that emphasizes conversion.”
However, David Bocarsly, CEO of Jewish California, supported Newsom’s actions, saying he was not concerned about the order in which the bills were signed because all three became law.
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“With more than 1,000 bills in front of him this past month, we aren’t concerned with the sequencing of Assembly Bill 395 and Assembly Bill 1763, as long as they got signed, and they did. We’re thrilled to see these two critical religious freedom protections become law and to recognize three Jewish holidays in California statute for the first time,” Bocarsly told Fox News Digital.
His organization also celebrated Newsom signing into law SB 1387, which recognizes Jewish identity as an ethnicity.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
A spokesperson for Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital, “This is not about manufacturing a scorecard among faiths. The Governor signs bills based on the substance of the legislation and the constitutional process governing when he receives and acts on bills. California is proud to continue strengthening its religious freedom – something our nation’s founders strongly believed in, too.”
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