Democrat Governor and presidential hopeful Gavin Newsom has signed into law new legislation that adds two Muslim holidays to the state calendar.
California now officially recognizes the Islamic holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays. https://t.co/XGlZdpKmCF
— Globe Eye News (@GlobeEyeNews) September 29, 2026
Gavin Newsom just signed a bill making two Islamic holy days official California state holidays. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Muslim students now get excused absences with no penalty. State and school employees can use holiday credit or personal leave to take the days off. https://t.co/w123xSn2wg
— TaraBull (@TaraBull) October 1, 2026
California just made two Islamic holidays official state holidays. Schools can close. State workers get the days. Newsom’s California in one headline. Glad I got out. Don’t miss that BS state at all. https://t.co/rm0oGq8v9R
— Erik-Unchained (@ErikUnchained) September 30, 2026
The bill updated the list of California holidays to include Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, allowing for school closures and work exemptions for state employees. While the legislation recognizes the new holidays on the California calendar, state employee observers are required to use holiday credits to use them, and courts and other offices will remain open. Students are to be issued excused absences when requested.
Additional legislation of a similar vein signed by Newsom added “Native American Day” to the docket of paid holidays. The additional costs of payroll expenses and lost productivity are expected to cost California taxpayers up to $20 million annually. Newsom hopes that the added holiday will “challenge misconceptions about California Indians and address what it describes as an incomplete understanding of Native American societies in the teaching of California history,” according to the California Post.
The new addition raises the number of California state holidays to 12, nearly 5 percent of the weekdays in a given year.