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HB61 • 2026

HOLIDAYS: Creates the holiday of the Battle of New Orleans Day

HOLIDAYS: Creates the holiday of the Battle of New Orleans Day

Elections Labor
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Mike Bayham
Last action
2026-05-15
Official status
Signed by the Governor - Act 113
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about how private businesses are affected by the new legal holiday, only that state employees and courts must observe it.

Battle of New Orleans Day

This law creates January 8 as a legal holiday called Battle of New Orleans Day.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds January 8 as a legal holiday to commemorate the Battle of New Orleans.

Who It Names or Affects

  • State employees who will have the day off from work.
  • Courts which are required to close on this day.

Terms To Know

legal holidays
Days when businesses and government offices are closed by law.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The holiday only applies to state employees and does not mandate private businesses to close.
  • Local school boards have discretion over whether to observe this day as part of regular schooling or not.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Plain English: SSHB61 4872 5078 HOUSE SUMMARY OF SENATE AMENDMENTS HB 61 2026 Regular Session Bayham HOLIDAYS: Creates the holiday of the Battle of New Orleans Day Synopsis of Senate Amendments 1.

  • SSHB61 4872 5078 HOUSE SUMMARY OF SENATE AMENDMENTS HB 61 2026 Regular Session Bayham HOLIDAYS: Creates the holiday of the Battle of New Orleans Day Synopsis of Senate Amendments 1.
  • Delete references to repealed statutes.
  • 2.
  • Provide that if a holiday is declared and election functions are required, the office of the secretary of state, clerk of court, and registrar of voters will remain open.

Plain English: HFAHB61 4872 2261 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Bayham to Engrossed House Bill No.

  • HFAHB61 4872 2261 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Bayham to Engrossed House Bill No.
  • 61 by Representative Bayham 1 AMENDMENT NO.
  • 1 2 On page 3, line 20, after "the provisions of" delete "R.S.
  • 6:65 or" 3 AMENDMENT NO.

Plain English: HCAHB61 4872 2076 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by House Committee on Judiciary to Original House Bill No.

  • HCAHB61 4872 2076 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by House Committee on Judiciary to Original House Bill No.
  • 61 by Representative Bayham 1 AMENDMENT NO.
  • 1 2 On page 1, line 2, after "To" and before "enact" insert "amend and reenact R.S.
  • 1:55(A)(1) 3 and (7), (B)(2), (D), and (E)(1)(a)(i) and to" 4 AMENDMENT NO.

Plain English: HCAHB61 4872 1747 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by House Committee on Judiciary to Original House Bill No.

  • HCAHB61 4872 1747 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by House Committee on Judiciary to Original House Bill No.
  • 61 by Representative Bayham 1 AMENDMENT NO.
  • 1 2 On page 1, line 2, after "To" and before "enact" insert "amend and reenact R.S.
  • 1:55(A)(1) 3 and (7), (B)(2), (D) and (E)(1)(a)(i) and to" 4 AMENDMENT NO.

Plain English: 2026 Regular Session Sequence: 1069 HBS AMENDED BY SENATE TO BE CONCURRED IN HB 61 BY BAYHAM CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENTS Date: 5/11/2026 Time: 2:45:47 PM ROLL CALL The roll was called with the following result: YEAS Mr.

  • 2026 Regular Session Sequence: 1069 HBS AMENDED BY SENATE TO BE CONCURRED IN HB 61 BY BAYHAM CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENTS Date: 5/11/2026 Time: 2:45:47 PM ROLL CALL The roll was called with the following result: YEAS Mr.
  • Speaker Adams Amedee Bacala Bagley Bamburg Bayham Beaullieu Berault Billings Boudreaux Bourriaque Boyd Boyer Brass Braud Broussard Bryant Butler Carpenter Carrier Carter, R.
  • Carter, W.
  • Carver Chassion Chenevert Coates Cox Crews Deshotel Dewitt Dickerson Domangue Echols Egan Firment Fisher Fontenot Freeman Freiberg Gadberry Galle Geymann Glorioso Green Hebert Henry, C.

Plain English: SCAHB61 4335 2411 SENATE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Senate Committee on Judiciary A to Reengrossed House Bill No.

  • SCAHB61 4335 2411 SENATE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Senate Committee on Judiciary A to Reengrossed House Bill No.
  • 61 by Representative Bayham 1 AMENDMENT NO.
  • 1 2 On page 5, line 17, after "a holiday." insert the following: 3 "If the holiday is declared, the office of the secretary of state, clerk of court, and registrar of 4 voters shall remain open if the functions and duties of the office related to an election are 5 required as determined by the commissioner of elections." Page 1 of 1

Plain English: SCAHB61 4335 1932 SENATE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Senate Committee on Judiciary A to Reengrossed House Bill No.

  • SCAHB61 4335 1932 SENATE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Senate Committee on Judiciary A to Reengrossed House Bill No.
  • 61 by Representative Bayham 1 AMENDMENT NO.
  • 1 2 On page 5, line 17, after "a holiday." insert the following: 3 "If the holiday is declared, the office of the secretary of state, clerk of court, and registrar of 4 voters shall remain open if the functions and duties of the office related to an election are 5 required as determined by the commissioner of elections." Page 1 of 1

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-15 H

    Effective date: 08/01/2026.

  2. 2026-05-15 H

    Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 113.

  3. 2026-05-13 H

    Sent to the Governor for executive approval.

  4. 2026-05-13 S

    Signed by the President of the Senate.

  5. 2026-05-12 H

    Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.

  6. 2026-05-11 H

    Read by title, roll called, yeas 94, nays 0, Senate amendments concurred in.

  7. 2026-05-07 H

    Scheduled for concurrence on 05/11/2026.

  8. 2026-05-06 H

    Received from the Senate with amendments.

  9. 2026-05-05 S

    Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 34 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

  10. 2026-04-27 S

    Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.

  11. 2026-04-22 S

    Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

  12. 2026-04-21 S

    Reported with amendments.

  13. 2026-04-01 S

    Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary A.

  14. 2026-03-31 S

    Received in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.

  15. 2026-03-30 H

    Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 90, nays 8. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

  16. 2026-03-30 H

    Called from the calendar.

  17. 2026-03-26 H

    Scheduled for floor debate on 03/30/2026.

  18. 2026-03-26 H

    Notice given.

  19. 2026-03-26 H

    Read by title, returned to the calendar.

  20. 2026-03-25 H

    Scheduled for floor debate on 03/26/2026.

  21. 2026-03-24 H

    Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.

  22. 2026-03-23 H

    Reported with amendments (17-0).

  23. 2026-03-09 H

    Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

  24. 2026-01-30 H

    First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 1/30/2026.

  25. 2026-01-30 H

    Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

  26. 2026-01-30 H

    Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

HOLIDAYS: Creates the holiday of the Battle of New Orleans Day

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
ENROLLED
ACT No. 1132026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 61
BY REPRESENTATIVE BAYHAM
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 1:55(A)(1) and (7), (B)(2), (D), and (E)(1)(a)(i) and to enact R.S.
3 1:58.10, relative to holidays; to provide relative to Presidents' Day; to provide for
4 George Washington's birthday; to provide for the Battle of New Orleans Day; and
5 to provide for related matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 1:55(A)(1) and (7), (B)(2), (D), and (E)(1)(a)(i) are hereby amended
8 and reenacted and R.S. 1:58.10 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
9 §55. Days of public rest, legal holidays, and half-holidays
10 A. The following shall be days of public rest and legal holidays and
11 half-holidays:
12 (1) The following shall be days of public rest and legal holidays: Sundays;
13 January 1, New Year's Day; January 8, Battle of New Orleans; the third Monday in
14 January, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday; the third Monday in February,
15 Washington's Birthday and Presidents' Day; the day of Mardi Gras; Good Friday; the
16 last Monday in May, National Memorial Day; July 4, Independence Day; August 30,
17 Huey P. Long Day; the first Monday in September, Labor Day; the second Monday
18 in October, Christopher Columbus Day; November 1, All Saints' Day; November 11,
19 Veterans' Day; the fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day; December 25,
20 Christmas Day; Inauguration Day in the city of Baton Rouge; provided, however,
21 that in the parish of Orleans, the city of Baton Rouge, in each of the parishes
22 comprising the second and sixth congressional districts, except the parish of
23 Ascension, and in each of the parishes comprising the fourteenth and thirty-first
24 judicial districts of the state, the whole of every Saturday shall be a legal holiday,
25 and in the parishes of Catahoula, Caldwell, West Carroll, Concordia, East Carroll,
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1 Franklin, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union, Jackson,
2 Avoyelles, West Feliciana, Rapides, Natchitoches, Grant, LaSalle, Winn, Lincoln,
3 and East Baton Rouge, the whole of every Saturday shall be a holiday for all banking
4 institutions, and in the parishes of Sabine and Vernon each Wednesday and Saturday,
5 from 12:00 o'clock noon until 12:00 o'clock midnight, shall be a half-holiday for all
6 banking institutions. All banks and trust companies, however, may, each at its
7 option, remain open and exercise all of its regular banking functions and duties upon
8 January 8; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday; January 19; Washington's
9 Birthday; Presidents' Day; Good Friday; National Memorial Day; June 3; August 30;
10 Christopher Columbus Day; November 1; and Veterans' Day; and all banks and trust
11 companies located in Ward 1 of the parish of Avoyelles may, each at its option,
12 remain open and exercise all of its regular banking functions and duties until 12
13 o'clock noon on Saturdays; however, when on any of said last named days any bank
14 or trust company does actually remain open it shall, as to transactions on such day,
15 to exactly the same extent as if such day were not otherwise a legal holiday, be not
16 subject to any of the provisions of R.S. 7:85 and 251 or any other laws of Louisiana
17 covering the matters of maturity of negotiable instruments and demand, notice,
18 presentment, acceptance, or protest thereof on legal holidays and half-holidays, and
19 all instruments payable to or at such bank upon such day shall become due on such
20 day; and provided, further, that the option of remaining open shall not, except as
21 otherwise provided in this Paragraph, apply to Saturdays or Wednesdays which are
22 holidays or half-holidays, or to Mardi Gras when the same has been declared a legal
23 holiday; and provided still further that nothing in any law of this state shall in any
24 manner whatsoever affect the validity of or render void or voidable the payment,
25 certification, or acceptance of a check or other negotiable instrument or any other
26 transaction by a bank in Louisiana because done on any holiday or half-holiday or
27 because done on any day upon which such bank, if remaining open because of the
28 option given it in this Paragraph, if the payment, certification, acceptance, or other
29 transaction could have been validly done on any other day.
30 * * *
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HB NO. 61 ENROLLED
1 (7) The third Monday in February, the birthday of President George
2 Washington and Presidents' Day, for public schools; provided however, that a local
3 school board shall decide to observe this holiday during a regularly scheduled school
4 day with or without the necessity of adjourning school for all or any portion of the
5 school day.
6 * * *
7 B. Legal holidays shall be observed by the departments of the state as
8 follows:
9 * * *
10 (2) Washington's Birthday, Presidents' Day, National Memorial Day, and
11 Huey P. Long Day shall be observed only in such manner as the governor may
12 proclaim, considering the pressure of the state's business.
13 * * *
14 D. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S.6:65 or any other law to the
15 contrary, all banking institutions and savings and loan associations located within the
16 parishes of Terrebonne, Lafourche, Iberia, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge, St.
17 Mary, and Iberville, and all banking institutions located within the parishes of
18 Lafayette and St. Landry, shall be closed during any year on Saturdays, Sundays,
19 New Year's Day, Mardi Gras, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and
20 Christmas; provided, however, that when New Year's Day, Independence Day, or
21 Christmas fall on a Sunday, said banking institutions and savings and loan
22 associations shall be closed on the next day, and said financial institutions may, each
23 at its option, remain open and exercise all of its regular functions and duties upon
24 January eighth; January nineteenth; the third Monday in February, Washington's
25 Birthday and Presidents' Day; Good Friday; the last Monday in May, National
26 Memorial Day; June third; August thirtieth; the second Monday in October,
27 Christopher Columbus Day; November first; and November eleventh, Veterans' Day;
28 and further provided that when on any of said last named days any said financial
29 institution does actually remain open it shall, as to transactions on such day, to
30 exactly the same extent as if such day were not otherwise a legal holiday, not be
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HB NO. 61 ENROLLED
1 subject to any of the provisions of R.S. 7:85 and 251, or any other laws of Louisiana,
2 covering the matters of maturity of negotiable instruments and demands, notice,
3 presentment, acceptance, or protest thereof on legal holidays and half-holidays, and
4 all instruments payable to or at such bank upon such day shall become due on such
5 day; and provided further that the option of remaining open shall not apply to
6 Saturdays or Wednesdays which are holidays or half-holidays, or to Mardi Gras
7 when the same has been declared a legal holiday; and provided further that nothing
8 in any law of this state shall in any manner whatsoever affect the validity of, or
9 render void or voidable, the payment, certification of acceptance of a check or other
10 negotiable instrument, or any other transaction by a bank in Louisiana because done
11 on any holiday or half-holiday or because done on any day upon which such
12 financial institution if remaining open because of the option given it in this
13 Subsection, if the payment, certification, acceptance, or other transaction could have
14 been validly done on any other day, provided, however, that in the parishes of
15 Beauregard, Sabine, Vernon, Evangeline, and DeSoto, the banking institutions may
16 elect to make the whole of Saturdays holidays and close, in lieu of half-holidays on
17 Wednesdays and half-holidays on Saturdays.
18 E.(1)(a)(i) Each clerk of a district court, parish court, and city court shall
19 close his office on the following days: New Year's Day, January first; Washington's
20 Birthday and Presidents' Day, the third Monday in February; Good Friday; Memorial
21 Day, the last Monday in May; the Fourth of July; Labor Day, the first Monday in
22 September; All Saints' Day, November first; Veterans' Day, November eleventh;
23 Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November, and the next day, Friday;
24 Christmas Eve Day; Christmas Day; and New Year's Eve Day, December thirty-first.
25 * * *
26 §58.10. Battle of New Orleans Day
27 A. A day shall be designated to commemorate the stunning victory by
28 American forces consisting of United States army regulars, marines, and sailors, area
29 militia, and Battalions of Free Men of Color, Baratarian privateers, Attakapas
30 Dragoons, volunteers from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi (Hinds' Dragoons),
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HB NO. 61 ENROLLED
1 Choctaws, and individuals who were formerly Spanish subjects and French citizens
2 who fought for their new country under the command of Major General Andrew
3 Jackson against the invading British forces on the plains of Chalmette in the last
4 major military engagement between the United States and Great Britain in the War
5 of 1812.
6 B. The eighth day of January is hereby designated as the Battle of New
7 Orleans Day throughout the state of Louisiana to honor those who served in this
8 historic battle. The governor or local governing authorities may declare the Battle
9 of New Orleans Day a holiday. If the holiday is declared, the office of the secretary
10 of state, clerk of court, and registrar of voters shall remain open if the functions and
11 duties of the office related to an election are required as determined by the
12 commissioner of elections.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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