George Washington's birthday

AN ACT Relating to changing the state holiday called Presidents' 1
Day to George Washington's Birthday (observed); amending RCW 2
1.16.050; and creating a new section. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:5
George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Virginia. By 6
the time he reached the age of 16, he had completed several practice 7
surveys and accompanied the surveyor of Prince William county on a 8
month-long trip across the Blue Ridge mountains. In July 1749 at the 9
young age of 17, George Washington was appointed as the county 10
surveyor for the newly created frontier county of Culpeper. There are 11
199 professional surveys attributed to George Washington.12
In late 1753, George Washington became involved in the French and 13
Indian War when he was selected as the British emissary to the French 14
frontier establishment and sent to deliver an ultimatum to the French 15
ordering them to desist from their encroachments in the Ohio Valley. 16
In 1754 he became lieutenant colonel of the Virginia Regiment, due in 17
part to his backcountry knowledge and map-making skills gained from 18
surveying. In 1774 the Virginia provincial convention elected George 19
Washington to be one of the seven delegates to the first continental 20
congress and he served in the second continental congress the 21
H-0589.1
HOUSE BILL 1446
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Abell and Eslick
Read first time 01/21/25. Referred to Committee on State Government
& Tribal Relations.
p. 1 HB 1446
following year. During the assembly of the second continental 1
congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, George Washington was 2
elected Commander in Chief of the continental army. On July 3, 1775, 3
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of the continental army.4
George Washington skillfully led the continental army through all 5
phases of the American Revolution. This includes the siege of Boston, 6
battles of Trenton and Princeton, wintering at Valley Forge, and the 7
decisive victory at Yorktown. Upon conclusion of combat, George 8
Washington voluntarily resigned his commission to the second 9
continental congress, thereby exemplifying civilian authority over 10
the military. 11
After the war, George Washington was influential in shaping the 12
various provisions of the nation's Constitution at the constitutional 13
convention in Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was 14
ratified by the states, the electoral college unanimously elected 15
George Washington as the nation's first president.16
George Washington served two terms as president of the United 17
States. During his presidency, George Washington established the 18
norms and customs for his successors, avoided combat with major 19
European powers, and set the United States on a path to security and 20
prosperity. He voluntarily left office in 1797, declining to run for 21
a third term, and returned to private life at Mount Vernon.22
Upon his death, George Washington was mourned by the nation and 23
eulogized by Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee as "First in war, first in 24
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."25
On November 11, 1889, the state of Washington was admitted as the 26
42nd state of the United States of America. Recognizing the unique 27
historical stature of George Washington, the state was named in his 28
honor. 29
In recognition of his service to this country, George 30
Washington's birthday became the first federal holiday to honor an 31
individual's birthdate. February 22nd was observed as a public 32
federal holiday until 1971 when former President Nixon declared a 33
single holiday to be called Presidents' Day which would be observed 34
on the third Monday in February in order to honor all past 35
presidents. However, the name Presidents' Day never became the legal 36
name of the holiday and the day is still legally called George 37
Washington's Birthday on official federal government writings.38
With the impending 250th anniversary of the United States 39
occurring on July 4, 2026, changing the name of the state holiday 40
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known as Presidents' Day to George Washington's Birthday (observed) 1
is more appropriate as the nation reflects on their founding 2
generation and the life and legacy of George Washington.3
Sec. 2. RCW 1.16.050 and 2024 c 76 s 3 are each amended to read 4
as follows: 5
(1) The following are state legal holidays: 6
(a) Sunday; 7
(b) The first day of January, commonly called New Year's Day;8
(c) The third Monday of January, celebrated as the anniversary of 9
the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr.; 10
(d) The third Monday of February, to be known as ((Presidents' 11
Day)) George Washington's Birthday (observed) and celebrated as the 12
anniversary of the birth ((s of Abraham Lincoln and )) of George 13
Washington; 14
(e) The last Monday of May, commonly known as Memorial Day;15
(f) The nineteenth day of June, recognized as Juneteenth, a day 16
of remembrance for the day the African slaves learned of their 17
freedom; 18
(g) The fourth day of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of 19
Independence; 20
(h) The first Monday in September, to be known as Labor Day;21
(i) The eleventh day of November, to be known as Veterans Day;22
(j) The fourth Thursday in November, to be known as Thanksgiving 23
Day; 24
(k) The Friday immediately following the fourth Thursday in 25
November, to be known as Native American Heritage Day; and26
(l) The twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas 27
Day. 28
(2) Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, except 29
employees of school districts and except those nonclassified 30
employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments 31
or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of 32
less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to one paid holiday 33
per calendar year in addition to those specified in this section. 34
Each employee of the state or its political subdivisions may select 35
the day on which the employee desires to take the additional holiday 36
provided for in this section after consultation with the employer 37
pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the appropriate 38
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personnel authority, or in the case of local government by ordinance 1
or resolution of the legislative authority. 2
(3) Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, 3
including employees of school districts and those nonclassified 4
employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments 5
or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of 6
less than twelve consecutive months, are entitled to two unpaid 7
holidays per calendar year for a reason of faith or conscience or an 8
organized activity conducted under the auspices of a religious 9
denomination, church, or religious organization. This includes 10
employees of public institutions of higher education, including 11
community colleges, technical colleges, and workforce training 12
programs. The employee may select the days on which the employee 13
desires to take the two unpaid holidays after consultation with the 14
employer pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the 15
appropriate personnel authority, or in the case of local government 16
by ordinance or resolution of the legislative authority. If an 17
employee prefers to take the two unpaid holidays on specific days for 18
a reason of faith or conscience, or an organized activity conducted 19
under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or religious 20
organization, the employer must allow the employee to do so unless 21
the employee's absence would impose an undue hardship on the employer 22
or the employee is necessary to maintain public safety. Undue 23
hardship shall have the meaning established in rule by the office of 24
financial management under RCW 43.41.109. 25
(4) If any of the state legal holidays specified in this section 26
are also federal legal holidays but observed on different dates, only 27
the state legal holidays are recognized as a paid legal holiday for 28
employees of the state and its political subdivisions. However, for 29
port districts and the law enforcement and public transit employees 30
of municipal corporations, either the federal or the state legal 31
holiday is recognized as a paid legal holiday, but in no case may 32
both holidays be recognized as a paid legal holiday for employees.33
(5) Whenever any state legal holiday: 34
(a) Other than Sunday, falls upon a Sunday, the following Monday 35
is the legal holiday; or 36
(b) Falls upon a Saturday, the preceding Friday is the legal 37
holiday. 38
(6) Nothing in this section may be construed to have the effect 39
of adding or deleting the number of paid holidays provided for in an 40
p. 4 HB 1446
agreement between employees and employers of political subdivisions 1
of the state or as established by ordinance or resolution of the 2
local government legislative authority. 3
(7) The legislature declares that the following days are 4
recognized as provided in this subsection, but may not be considered 5
legal holidays for any purpose: 6
(a) The thirteenth day of January, recognized as Korean-American 7
day; 8
(b) The twelfth day of October, recognized as Columbus day;9
(c) The ninth day of April, recognized as former prisoner of war 10
recognition day; 11
(d) The twenty-sixth day of January, recognized as Washington 12
army and air national guard day; 13
(e) The seventh day of August, recognized as purple heart 14
recipient recognition day; 15
(f) The second Sunday in October, recognized as Washington state 16
children's day; 17
(g) The sixteenth day of April, recognized as Mother Joseph day;18
(h) The fourth day of September, recognized as Marcus Whitman 19
day; 20
(i) The seventh day of December, recognized as Pearl Harbor 21
remembrance day; 22
(j) The twenty-seventh day of July, recognized as national Korean 23
war veterans armistice day; 24
(k) The nineteenth day of February, recognized as civil liberties 25
day of remembrance; 26
(l) The thirtieth day of March, recognized as welcome home 27
Vietnam veterans day; 28
(m) The eleventh day of January, recognized as human trafficking 29
awareness day; 30
(n) The thirty-first day of March, recognized as Cesar Chavez 31
day; 32
(o) The tenth day of April, recognized as Dolores Huerta day;33
(p) The fourth Saturday of September, recognized as public lands 34
day; 35
(q) The eighteenth day of December, recognized as blood donor 36
day; 37
(r) The fifteenth day of May, recognized as water safety day;38
(s) The ninth day of March, recognized as Billy Frank Jr. day; 39
and 40
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(t) The date corresponding with the second new moon following the 1
winter solstice, or the third new moon following the winter solstice 2
should an intercalary month intervene, recognized as the lunar new 3
year. 4
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