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House to legislate Martin Luther King Day
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Posted on Jan 25 2005
The CNMI can still have a Martin Luther King Day without having to sacrifice or take out any of the existing holidays.
House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial is poised to introduce a bill in tomorrow’s session, allowing the creation of an MLK Day, in addition to the CNMI nonworking holidays.
“We can have it as a separate holiday. He [Fitial] doesn’t intend to take anything out. He plans to propose it in addition to the current holidays,” said House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr.
He said that even with the inclusion of an MLK Day, the CNMI may still have fewer holidays than Guam.
“We have to revisit that issue. We want to see whether or not even with the additional holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and achievements, we’d still be comparable to other locations because after all, we understand that we’re the only U.S. jurisdiction that does not recognize MLK’s birthday,” Reyes said.
Last year, then acting Gov. Diego T. Benavente vetoed a bill that proposed to replace President’s Day with MLK Jr. Day.
Benavente said he fully supports MLK Day in the CNMI but not at the expense of President’s Day, which he said, has a very profound meaning for the Commonwealth.
At present, the CNMI has 14 legal holidays: New Year’s Day, Commonwealth Day, President’s Day, Covenant Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence/Liberation Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Citizenship Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Constitution Day, and Christmas Day.
