²ÝÁñÉçÇø

Juneteenth becomes an official, paid holiday for state employees in Washington

Gov. Jay Inslee has officially declared Juneteenth a state holiday in Washington.

He signed a slate of bills on Thursday including , making June 19 a paid day off for state workers starting in 2022.

Juneteenth — also known as Emancipation Day and Freedom Day — marks the day when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 and informed the last enslaved African Americans there that they were free.

Tags