RICHMOND, Va. – A Virginia Senate bill to make Election Day a state holiday has passed the House.
SB 601 passed 55-44 on Monday.
The move involves removing Lee-Jackson Day as a state holiday.
Both houses will have to agree on any changes before it passes and reaches the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
Gov. Northam announced earlier this year that making this change happen is part of his legislative agenda.
Lee-Jackson Day, established over 100 years ago, is observed annually on the Friday preceding the third Monday in January.
It honors Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, who were both native Virginians.
Critics of the Lee-Jackson holiday view it as a celebration of the state’s slave-holding history that’s offensive to African Americans. Many cities and counties have opted not to observe it.