OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state Legislature has passed a measure that makes Juneteenth a legal state holiday. The measure making June 19 a state paid holiday passed the Democratic-led Senate on a bipartisan 47-1 vote and now heads to Gov. Jay Inslee for his signature. The House passed the measure in February on an 89 -9 vote. Juneteenth commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free in 1865 in Galveston, Texas, where Union soldiers brought them the news two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Washington Legislature approves Juneteenth as state holiday
