Governor and GOP leaders are urged by a progressive Iowa group to declare Juneteenth a state holiday

Iowa – A liberal organization in Iowa called Progress Iowa has slammed Governor Kim Reynolds and other Republican leaders for not making Juneteenth a state holiday.

Over half of the states in the United States observed Juneteenth as a state holiday as of last year. On this day, slavery in the United States was abolished. The final set of people in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free on June 19, 1865.

Progress Iowa’s Matt Sinovic urged Iowa’s leaders to declare the event a state holiday.

“It is no surprise that politicians like Governor Kim Reynolds and the Republican-led legislature have refused to make Juneteenth a paid state holiday while a majority of states have done so,” Sinovic said in a release. “These politicians have enacted laws to whitewash our history by ripping honest coursework out of our schools. And they have largely turned a blind eye to Iowa’s staggering racial disparities in our criminal justice system, maternal health care, and more.”

The official website of Iowa states that nine state holidays are observed there.

• New Year’s Day
• Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.’s Birthday
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Day after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day

Governor Kim Reynolds was contacted by Iowa’s News Now to inquire about her support for declaring Juneteenth a holiday. Although she did not explicitly reply, she did make a social media post regarding the federal holiday.

“Freedom. Hope. Equality. Juneteenth is a reminder that every day we work toward striving for a more perfect Union and honoring the legacy of those who have come before us,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.