Free Republic

Illinois residents celebrated their first annual “Barack Obama Day” on Saturday after the state legislature voted in 2017 to make the day honoring former President Barack Obama a state holiday. The bill establishing Obama’s birthday as a state holiday unanimously passed the Illinois state legislature last year, and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the measure into law on August 6, 2017. The legislation declared August 4 “Barack Obama Day” in the state of Illinois, but did not make the holiday an official legal holiday over concerns the state could not afford the cost of giving state employees a paid holiday....

Illinois government offices remained open Saturday as the home state of former President Barack Obama commemorated his birthday under a new state law. The bill marking Aug. 4 as “Barack Obama Day” throughout the state was enacted without making the date a full-scale holiday. The Illinois House narrowly rejected a plan to make Obama’s birthday a state holiday amid worries that the cash-strapped state could not afford to give state state employees another paid day off.Obama turned 57. The law hailed Obama’s efforts to protect the rights of Americans and build “bridges across communities.”

Former President Barack Obama got a special treat for his birthday this year - his very own holiday. Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law Friday a measure to designate Aug. 4 as "Barack Obama Day" across Illinois. The newest state holiday will be celebrated each year on the 44th president's birthday, beginning in 2018. The holiday will be "observed throughout the State as a day set apart to honor the 44th President of the United States of America who began his career serving the People of Illinois in both the Illinois State Senate and the United States Senate, and dedicated...

In Perry County, Alabama, there was no time to waste. Action had to be taken.And with a kind of urgency rarely seen in government (unless it is appropriating trillions of dollars in bailout money), the county commission did it. It's official.Barack Obama Day is on the books.As the Associated Press Reports: The Perry County commission voted 4 to 1 to observe the second Monday in November as "The Barack Obama Day." County offices will close and its roughly 40 workers will get a paid holiday.The sponsoring commissioner said the holiday is meant to give people faith that difficult goals can...