What is a federal holiday? Celebration is hardly an American attribute government-made to dispense, but time away from your job at a federal office to engage in celebration is within the government’s power. The Federal Reserve Bank explains that federal holidays mandate closings of federal offices (and most banks) and the activation of holiday pay for the employees who work there. The same isn’t true for states, however. A federal holiday might close every federal bank in Virginia, for example, but unless Virginia’s state government also chooses to recognize that holiday, the state government’s agencies remain open.
Just as states can ignore federal holidays, states can also create brand new holidays all their own without waiting for the approval of the federal government. For example, Juneteenth has been a state-sanctioned holiday in Texas since 1980 (via CNN).
Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12 is a sacred date in New York and New Jersey, while Alabama celebrates Jefferson Davis’s birthday the first Monday in June. Utah celebrates Pioneer Day on July 24, and Alaska celebrates Alaska Day on October 14 each year (via InfoPlease). And finally, neither the state nor the federal government can tell private sector businesses which dates it may or may not operate or close down.
