Showing posts with label Barack Obama Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barack Obama Day. Show all posts

Saturday, August 04, 2018

Illinois celebrates first annual Barack Obama Day




Illinoisans honored former President Obama on Saturday with the first annual “Barack Obama Day.”

The Illinois legislature last year unanimously passed a measure establishing Aug. 4, the former president’s birthday, as a state holiday.

Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed the bill into law on Aug. 6, 2017, making this year the first that the holiday is celebrated.

Obama began his political career as a community organizer in Chicago before becoming a state senator and then a U.S. senator from Illinois.

An early version of the bill had pushed for the day to be a legal holiday with paid time off and closed government offices, but the final version made it a commemorative holiday.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]