The birthday of Barack Obama is a public holiday now, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed the respective law last Friday. Since 2018, the August 4th will be the day to honour Obama, not an official state holiday.
The former President Barack Obama is a very respectful person in Illinois, he began his political career in this state Senate in 1997 and served there until his election to the US Senate in 2004. According to Governor Bruce Rauner, the new law marks the ex-president’s efforts to unite communities and to protect the rights of all Americans during eight years of his presidency as well as during the period of Obama’s political career.
The new Rauner’s law takes effect next year, the initiative received overwhelming support in the Democrat-led Legislature, and the Republican governor signed it on August 4th, 2017.
Barack Obama: his trace in the US history
Initially, the Illinois House didn’t want to make Obama’s birthday a state holiday, taking into account the concerns of giving state employees in cash-strapped Illinois another paid day off.
According to the law, on Obama commemorative holiday, the workplaces will not close like similar Adlai Stevenson Day and Ronald Reagan Day. The bill was introduced to state senate by the son of Emil Jones, Jr, who helped then-state Sen. Obama to US Senate in 2004, boosting his political career to the unbelievable heights.
It is worth to note that Democrats tried to make Obama Day a legal state holiday, where schools and state offices would close and banks and businesses would be allowed to close, but wouldn’t be required to.
