There may be more time to celebrate the Easter holiday in the future as two Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to make Easter Monday a federal holiday.
According to a report on Fox News, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Rep. Riley Moore (R-W. Va.) want Easter Monday to become a federal holiday. It is already considered a holiday in many other countries.
Schmitt posted a poll on X that showed that 81% of Americans celebrated Easter as of 2023, per the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
“But our current holiday schedule makes it way too difficult for families to celebrate together,” he posted along with the poll. “Easter falls on the longest unbroken work stretch of the calendar. (March and April are the only back-to-back months without a federal holiday).”
“This isn’t a radical idea. It’s a federal recognition of a tradition that is central to Western civilization—a tradition that’s already recognized as a public holiday in nations across (and beyond!) the West, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most of Western Europe,” the Republican lawmaker said.
He said this is the perfect time to celebrate with family as well as the holiday.
“Easter is a floating holiday, it can fall from Mar 22 to April 25. The only two-month gap in our federal holiday calendar is April-May. An Easter Monday holiday fills the gap — creating a three-day weekend when workers and families need it most. Pro-worker. Pro-family. Pro-faith,” he said.
There is also an economical side to his argument.
“There are plenty of practical arguments for it, too. Easter weekend already generates around $15 billion for our economy. Making it a three-day weekend could boost that by an estimated 10-15%, adding up to $2 billion in economic activity while strengthening American families,” he added.
Currently, there are 11 public federal holidays with the most recently added being Juneteenth, which recognizes the abolition of slavery in the United States.
Moore added this important Christian holiday deserves an extra day of observance.
“The passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in the history of the world. ‘Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld,’” Moore posted on X.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
