Martin Luther King Day Signed by Idaho Governor

Gov. Cecil D. Andrus signed compromise legislation today making Idaho the nation’s 47th state to honor slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with an official state holiday.

Andrus created Martin Luther King Jr.-Idaho Human Rights Day on the third Monday in January, corresponding with the federal holiday first celebrated in 1986.

“This historic legislation firmly demonstrates that Idahoans have that broader concern for all humanity,” the governor said. “We stand against racism and for brotherhood.”

Idaho’s 10th state holiday, recommended by Andrus in his annual State of the State address in January, was approved by the Legislature last month after lengthy and sometimes bitter debate.

Opponents focused on the cost of another paid day off for state employees--which some put as high as $2.6 million--and whether King should be singled out for the honor.

It took the addition of “Idaho Human Rights Day” to win over enough lawmakers for passage of the bill in the session’s closing hours.

Supporters cited the impact of King’s nonviolent philosophy and his symbolic importance. They also said the action was needed to help eliminate Idaho’s stigma as a haven for racists such as the Panhandle-based Aryan Nation. Critics dismissed that problem as exaggerated by the media.

Idaho’s black population is estimated at 3,200, or just over three-tenths of 1% of the state’s approximately 1 million people.

Arizona, Montana and New Hampshire are the remaining states without some form of official King holiday.