To the Members of the California State Assembly: I am signing Assembly Bill 2596, which authorizes any state employee to utilize eight hours of vacation, annual leave, or compensating time off in lieu of receiving eight hours of personal holiday credit to observe the "Lunar New Year." The Lunar New Year celebrates a chance to leave behind the troubles of the past year and invite prosperity and good luck moving forward . Recognizing this day as a state holiday acknowledges the diversity and cultural significance Asian Americans bring to California and provides an opportunity for all Californians to participate in the significance of the Lunar New Year. I am immensely proud of the richness of diversity and backgrounds represented in our state and understand the importance of wanting to see one's own experience reflected in state holidays. While I am signing this bill and two other bills that also mark two significant days, before increasing the number of state holidays beyond the more than a dozen already recognized, I encourage the Legislature to identify criteria to help evaluate and inform future establishment of additional state holidays.
The Bill AB-2596 was introduced by Assembly member Evan Low who is the leading author in February 2022. The bill has received strong support and was passed on May 25 by 76 yes votes and zero no votes. Assembly member Low said, the result of overwhelming support to the Lunar New Year Holiday shows that Asian American Cultures has earned well-received recognition.
加州州長紐森日前簽署了多項法案，包括將“農曆新年”這一天列爲州政府假日的AB 2596法案。州長的聲明說：「致加利福尼亞州議會議員：我簽署第 2596 號議會法案，該法案授權任何州僱員利用 8 小時的假期、年假或補償假，來取代使用8小時的個人假期積分，以此遵守“農曆新年”。農曆新年慶祝的是，人們有機會擺脫過去一年的煩惱，並迎來繁榮和好運繼續前行。賦予這一天為州假日，是肯定亞裔美國人給加州帶來的多樣性和文化意義，並為所有加州人提供參與農曆新年意義的機會。我為我們州所代表的多樣性和背景的豐富性感到非常自豪，並且理解希望看到自己的經歷反映在州假期中的重要性。雖然我正在簽署這項法案和另外兩項也標誌著兩個重要日子的法案，但在將州假日的數量加入到已經承認的十幾個假日之前，我鼓勵立法機構確定標準，以幫助未來建立額外的州假日所需要的評估和告知信息。」
眾議會今年5月25日以76票全票無異議通過代表矽谷選區州眾議員羅達倫Evan Low所提AB 2596法案，希望將農曆新年定為加州假日。消息傳出，華、韓、越南等族裔社區都歡迎，肯定民意代表和州政府對亞裔文化的重視。
農曆新年具有循環更新與社區結合的普世意義，也是亞洲與亞裔文化的重要特徵，三分之二以上美國亞裔人口慶祝農曆新年，包括華裔、越南裔、韓裔、馬來西亞裔在內。在仇亞暴力尚未完全淡化的背景之下，設農曆新年為州定假日不僅鼓舞亞裔士氣，也同時彰顯出加州領導包容性社會的魄力。雖然法案本身只是給予州級政府雇員法源來選定每年農曆這一天為法定假日，而無需州長逐年宣佈，但是過往成爲州法之後，州以下各級機關通常會跟進而使這一天成爲政府的假日。