*California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation officially recognizing Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays.
Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2017 on Sept. 27, according to the governor’s official legislative update. The measure makes California the second state after Washington to recognize both Muslim holidays statewide.
The designation does not mean California businesses, schools and government offices must close for either holiday. Courts will also remain open, according to the New York Post.
What California’s New Eid Law Actually Does
AB 2017 allows K-12 schools and community colleges to close for Eid through locally negotiated agreements. State and school employees can also use existing personal holiday credits or leave time to observe the holidays.
The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations co-sponsored the legislation. CAIR-California says the law addresses challenges facing the state’s more than one million Muslim residents.
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Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of Ramadan, Islam’s holy month of fasting. Eid al-Adha commemorates Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of devotion to God.
Oussama Mokeddem, CAIR-California’s legislative and government affairs director, welcomed the law during an interview with LAist. He called the signing “an exciting day for the California Muslim community and a big day for the American Muslim community at large.”
Signing Order Draws Political Criticism
The legislation also sparked political criticism over the order in which Newsom signed several religious-observance measures.
Newsom still had other religious-observance bills awaiting action when he signed AB 2017. Those included measures involving protections connected to Jewish holidays, including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. He later signed those measures before the deadline, the New York Post reported.
Elizabeth Barcohana, chair of Jewish engagement for the California Republican Party, criticized the sequence in comments originally given to JNS.
“The fact that Newsom chose to sign the Eid law before the law that protected other religious observance speaks volumes,” Barcohana said.
She connected the sequence to Newsom’s possible political ambitions, saying it “speaks volumes about the direction he is moving as he eyes a 2028 run for the presidency.”
Barcohana also called AB 2017 “an example of American laws adopting a Sharia law framework.” That characterization represents her political interpretation of the legislation, not a provision contained in the law.
Jewish California CEO Rejects Concern Over Sequence
David Bocarsly, CEO of Jewish California, offered a different assessment of Newsom’s actions.
Bocarsly told JNS that AB 395 marked the first time California law specifically named a Jewish holiday. He welcomed that recognition rather than focusing on which legislation Newsom signed first.
“I’m really thrilled that California has recognized the Jewish community in this way,” Bocarsly told.
Fox News Digital also reported Bocarsly was unconcerned about the sequence because Newsom ultimately signed the measures.
“We aren’t concerned with the sequencing of Assembly Bill 395 and Assembly Bill 1763, as long as they got signed,” he said.
Reader Comments Reveal Broader Political Frustration
The Post’s comment section also became a forum for broader anger over California politics and Democratic policies.
Those remarks represent individual readers, not evidence of California voter opinion or broader public sentiment. Still, several comments show how quickly the holiday debate became connected to larger partisan grievances.
One reader moved far beyond AB 2017 and urged Americans to “vote Republican.” The commenter also called Trump “the last hope to save the republic.”
Another reader declared there was “no hope left for the return of common sense” in California. That commenter also accused Democrats of fascism and attacked Democratic prosecutors and judges.
The comments illustrate the intensity of some readers’ political frustration.
California Continues Expanding Holiday Recognition
The Eid legislation follows other changes to California’s statutory holiday calendar.
Earlier this year, EURweb reported that Newsom signed legislation renaming César Chávez Day as Farm Workers Day. That measure shifted the state’s recognition toward the broader farmworker movement.
AB 2017 now gives California’s Muslim communities formal statewide recognition for their two major religious celebrations.
For Muslim workers and students, however, the practical change remains more limited than the phrase “state holiday” might suggest. The law provides recognition and new options for observance without ordering California to shut down for Eid.
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