April 16 May Become ’Selena Quintanilla-Pérez Day’ In Texas

A new bill filed on Tuesday that would designate April 16 as “Selena Quintanilla-Pérez Day” is making its way through Texas’s legislature committee.

If passed, the bill named, House Bill 2492 would make the late singer’s birthday an official state holiday in Texas and would begin to take effect on September 1. 

“April 16 is Selena Quintanilla Perez Day in memory of the contributions to Tejano music of Selena Quintanilla Perez, an award-winning singer and recording artist,” the bill, authored by Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos (D), states. “Selena Quintanilla Perez Day may be regularly observed by appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

According to MySanAntonio, the bill must be voted out of the house committee before being voted on by the full house, and would then move on to the Senate and governor. 

This is not the first time a day has been set aside specifically to honor Pérez. As three weeks after her death, the then Governor George W. Bush proclaimed “Selena Day” on April 16, 1995, in Texas. In 2017 when the singer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles also named November 3 as “Selena Day.”

On March 31, 1995, 23-year-old Pérez was shot and killed by her former employee Yolanda Saldívar.

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Right now, there is only one other holiday honoring a single individual under the current state law for “Lyndon Baines Johnson Day” on August 27.