Bill > AB268

This bill adds Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, as a state holiday in California, recognizing its cultural and religious significance to Indian Americans, South Asian Americans, and various religious communities including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains. The bill provides detailed context about Diwali, explaining that the word means "a row of lamps" and symbolizes the victory of good over evil, with each religious community having its own unique historical or spiritual interpretation of the holiday. Specifically, the bill amends multiple sections of California law to allow state employees to elect to take time off with pay on Diwali, permit community colleges and public schools to close on the holiday (based on agreements with employee representatives), and add Diwali to the list of state holidays while excluding it from being a judicial holiday. The proposed holiday will fall on the 15th day of the month of Kartik in the Hindu lunar calendar each year, and the bill emphasizes the holiday's themes of bringing families, friends, and communities together in goodwill, peace, and renewal, while celebrating knowledge, truth, and the destruction of negative qualities.

Budget and Finance, Education, Government Affairs, Labor and Employment

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB268