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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- While much of the nation takes a day off to observe the Martin Luther King Junior civil rights holiday tomorrow, Utah legislators will be reporting to work.
Utah was the last state in the nation to recognize the King holiday.
Some legislators contend convening the 2006 session on the holiday is an opportunity to recognize King's call to service. But critics contend it only shows how much progress still needs to be made in Utah, where less than one percent of the population is black.
Of the 40 states whose legislatures will have convened by tomorrow, Utah is one of nine that won't be taking the day off.
Until 2001, Utah celebrated Human Rights Day on the third Monday in January instead of Martin Luther King Junior Day. The name was changed as part of a package of civil rights bills in 2000.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
