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PHOENIX (CN) — Just two weeks after sexual assault allegations first surfaced against civil rights activist and United Farm Workers union co-founder Cesar Chavez, a bill to remove Cesar Chavez Day from the list of unpaid Arizona holidays now sits on the desk of Governor Katie Hobbs.
“The deeply troubling and reprehensible reports have made today’s vote necessary,” state Representative Mariana Sandoval, a Democrat from Goodyear, said Monday afternoon. “No one person makes a movement. The values that unite us cannot be weakened or degraded by one person. Dignity, respect, justice and the protection of the most vulnerable among us must always come before any one person.”
House Bill 2072 received bipartisan support from both chambers — a rarity in Arizona politics.
“This is not a partisan issue,” state Representative Lisa Fink said as she voted to support the bill. “Standing with victims and rejecting abuse in all its forms are principles that unite us, not divide us.”
The Republican from Peoria said repealing the state holiday, celebrated on March 31, is the only responsible path forward.
United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta revealed on March 18 that she was raped twice by Chavez and hid two children conceived with him from the public to not sully the legacy of the union she dedicated her life to. On the same day, the New York Times published an investigation documenting regular sexual abuse Chavez perpetrated against two underage girls from 1972 to 1977.
United Farm Workers has already canceled all of its Cesar Chavez Day activities.
Republican state Senator Shawna Bolick of Phoenix first introduced the measure as a strike-everything amendment to an unrelated bill last week. State Senator Sally Ann Gonzales, a Democrat from Tucson, added an additional amendment to rename the holiday to Farmworkers Day, following the lead of the city of Phoenix and the state of California.
That amendment failed on the Senate floor.
Some Democrats said that repealing the holiday without honoring those who helped build the legacy is a mistake.
State Representative Alma Hernandez, a Democrat from Tucson, alongside her colleagues, called out what she deemed as hypocrisy in the Legislature’s eagerness to hold Chavez posthumously accountable while refusing to do the same to those implicated in the files of Jeffrey Epstein, including President Donald Trump.
“Just completely repealing this and not honoring those farmworkers like my Senator Sally Gonzales and her family is not something that I can stand for,” she said.
Phoenix Democrat Oscar De Los Santos echoed Hernandez’s sentiment.
“Hold every leader accountable and stand with all victims, no matter who the perpetrator is, including if the perpetrator is the president of the United States,” he said.
Other state representatives said changing the name would hurt the farmworkers’ movement and the broader push for civil rights in the U.S.
Lydia Hernandez said she grew up as a farmworker and organized events with the United Farm Workers union.
“This is a movement not represented by one person,” she said. “The removal of names of streets, it takes away from that movement that is very valuable in developing a lot of opportunities and workers’ rights for farm workers like my family.”
Lorena Austin, a Democrat from Mesa, said she wished lawmakers would have consulted with the Latino community most directly affected.
“People did not even come to the communities that this has impacted,” she said. “And I think that’s wrong. I think we should at least have some decency in this chamber to come and talk to those communities.”
Despite some objections, the bill received nearly unanimous support from both chambers. Gonzales was the only senator who voted against the measure due to the lack of support for her amendment.
In the House, just eight Democrats voted against the amended bill.
Junelle Cavero, a Democrat from Phoenix, disagreed with her dissenting colleagues.
“Standing with survivors does not erase the farmworkers movement or the struggle for workers’ rights,” she said. “It simply means we’re committed to truth, accountability and compassion. As leaders, our duty is not only to history but to people, especially those who feel unheard.”
The bill now awaits a signature from Hobbs, a Democrat, who already said she will not honor the activist’s birthday this year.
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