By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- It's not a paid holiday.
But Arizona lawmakers are moving to repeal a law that declares March 31 of each year as "Dr. Cesar Estrada Chavez Day.''
In a statement Thursday, House Speaker Steve Montenegro noted that Gov. Katie Hobbs has decided not to issue her annual proclamation, something separate from the holiday that is on the statute books.
"We are not going to keep honoring a man who committed sexual abuse against children and assaulted women,'' said the Goodyear Republican. He said the measure, to be considered next week by the Senate Committee on Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency, should not be controversial.
"If even the governor is stepping back from recognizing Cesar Chavez this year, then the Legislature needs to finish the job,'' Montenegro said. "Looking the other way is not leadership.''
Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said the measure "should receive unanimous, bipartisan support.''
Democratic legislative leaders have put out a statement saying they were "deeply troubled'' by the reports and saying they support the survivors who are telling their story. But that press release made no mention of the holiday.
Legislative records show that the holiday was first approved in 2000.
But it was not unanimous: Two Republican senators and 11 members of the GOP in the state House were opposed.
The measure would do a simple repeal. That contrasts with California where lawmakers there are planning to rename the March 31 holiday it as Farmworkers Day.
That appears to track with the wishes of Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers of America and recently disclosed that she had been assaulted twice by the now-deceased labor leader. She told Latino USA that "everything should be named for the martyrs of the Farm Worker movement.''
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