Holidays and Days of Special Observance - As enacted, designates May 1 of each year as "Law Day." - Amends TCA Title 15, Chapter 2. Companion bill has been assigned Public Chapter Number 791 by the Secretary of State, the official text

...

:  ,q,("'" l!tt51:

   c,~ . ...·...~..~ ...c..•~ ,

   ~ . ~•••••

State f/Jennessee

                             PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 791

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 1732

                                                            By Stevens

                                           Substituted for: House Bill No. 1529

                 By Bulso, Vital, Russell, Sherrell, Moon, Wright, Hale, Reedy, Travis, Davis

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 15, Chapter 2, relative to days of special
          observance.

          WHEREAS, the rule of law is the capstone of our constitutional order and the crown jewel of
the American way of life; and

          WHEREAS, beginning with the ratification of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, people
and nations near and far have looked to the United States as a guiding light of liberty and justice;
and

          WHEREAS, for centuries, the world has revered America for its devotion to the timeless
principle of equal justice under the law; and

          WHEREAS, as we continue the work to maintain justice in our courtrooms, order on our
streets, and respect for our laws, we recognize that the forces of collectivism, whose lies and false
promises were responsible for the deaths of more than 100 million souls in the 20th Century alone,
have not yet been defeated and remain an imminent threat to the American way of life; and

          WHEREAS, President Dwight D. Eisenhower first proclaimed May 1 as "Loyalty Day" in 1955
to counter commemorations of May Day - which was frequently celebrated by communist groups
- and to serve as a beacon of hope to all those still blighted by the horrors and injustices of
communism and tyranny; and

          WHEREAS, as President Ronald Reagan famously remarked in his 1989 Farewell Address,
our nation stands before the entire world as a "tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans,
wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace... "; and

          WHEREAS, for 250 years, the United States has proudly carried forth a grand tradition of
legal and political thought stretching back to the earliest days of Western civilization, and we wish to
renew our commitment to the constitutional rule of law as our pride, our glory, and an enduring
source of American greatness; and

          WHEREAS, on May 1, 2025, the President of the United States issued a proclamation
designating Loyalty Day and Law Day, U.S.A., 2025; and

          WHEREAS, it is appropriate that Tennessee, which entered the Federal Union on June 1,
1796, as the 16th State of the United States, join the United States of America and those states that
observe May 1 of every year as "Law Day"; now, therefore,

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

          SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 15, Chapter 2, is amended by adding the
following as a new section:

                    May 1 of each year is observed as "Law Day," to honor the rule of law as the bedrock
          of our political system.

          SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.
         SENATE BILL NO. 1732

PASSED:  April 6, 2026

                                         ~c..-~

                                                 RANDYl\llcNALLY
                                    SPEAKER OF TH~ SENATE

                        CAMER8ft""SEXTON,SPEAKER
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

J?JJ APPROVED this  day of f>.vc;\  2026

            Gr« ,

         BILL LEE, GOVERNOR