An Act To Establish First Responders Day as a State Holiday on September 11th

Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §1051,  as amended by PL 2019, c. 59, §1 and c. 475, §49, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

§ 1051.  Legal holidays

Court may not be held on Sunday or any day designated for the annual Thanksgiving; New Year's Day, January 1st; Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, the 3rd Monday in January; Washington's Birthday, the 3rd Monday in February; Patriot's Day, the 3rd Monday in April; Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, but if the Federal Government designates May 30th as the date for observance of Memorial Day, the 30th of May; the 4th of July; Labor Day, the first Monday of September; First Responders Day, September 11th; Indigenous Peoples Day, the 2nd Monday in October; Veterans Day, November 11th; or on Christmas Day. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court may order that court be held on a legal holiday when the interests of justice and judicial economy in any particular case will be served. The public offices in county buildings may be closed to business on the holidays named in this section. When any one of the holidays named in this section falls on Sunday, the Monday following must be observed as a holiday, with all the privileges applying to any of the days named in this section.

Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §59  is enacted to read:

§ 59.  First Responders Day established as state holiday

In recognition of the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians; active members of the United States Armed Forces; and those veterans of the United States Armed Forces who served during the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq and in recognition of those who were victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the State designates September 11th of each year as First Responders Day and as a state holiday. All nonessential state offices must be closed on First Responders Day.

Sec. 3. 9-B MRSA §145, sub-§1, ¶H-1  is enacted to read:

Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §4802, sub-§1, ¶D-1  is enacted to read:

summary

This bill establishes September 11th of each year as First Responders Day and as a state holiday.