State holidays: Diwali.

Kalra and Patel, backed by a broad coalition including a principal coauthor from the Senate and several Assembly colleagues, advance a measure that would designate Diwali as a state holiday and extend observance to public schools, community colleges, and state employees. The central objective is to formalize Diwali as a recognized holiday and to allow, where applicable, closures of schools and colleges and paid time off for state workers, while also enabling educational institutions to incorporate exercises that acknowledge the festival’s meaning.

The measure would integrate Diwali into the state’s holiday framework while clarifying its status relative to judicial holidays. It would designate Diwali as a holiday that is not a judicial holiday, and it would permit closures or observances consistent with existing government and education code provisions. Public schools and educational institutions could close for Diwali if governing boards reach an agreement through memorandum of understanding, and they could include exercises acknowledging the festival as part of related instructional or commemorative activities. Model curriculum guidance could be developed to accompany such activities, alongside continued observances for other holidays such as Native American Day and Genocide Remembrance Day.

In the state employee and education funding context, the bill would extend paid observance of Diwali to eligible state workers and would harmonize this with other established holidays. It provides that employees may be entitled to paid time off for Diwali and other listed holidays, with standard rules for observing holidays that fall on weekends. The measure also introduces alternatives for certain workers, including the option to substitute a Lunar New Year holiday for Lincoln Day or Washington Day for some employees and to receive eight hours of holiday credit or other compensatory arrangements for specified holidays, subject to applicable collective bargaining and department rules.

Taken together, the bill underscores a policy goal of recognizing culturally significant festivals within California’s public institutions, reflecting the festival’s diverse importance to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, and broader South Asian communities. The provisions interact with existing holiday statutes and education codes, relying on governing boards, memoranda of understanding, and optional curriculum guides to implement observances. The measure does not propose new appropriations, and implementation would hinge on calendar decisions by state agencies, school districts, and community college districts, as well as the governance processes that govern holiday scheduling and employee compensation.