The Republican majority in the Arizona Legislature is pushing to eliminate Cesar Chavez Day as a state holiday following allegations that the late United Farm Workers cofounder raped his own co-founder, Dolores Huerta, and two young girls.

Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Deer Valley, has proposed a strike-everything amendment to House Bill 2072 that would end the holiday entirely. The Senate Regulatory Affairs and Government Efficiency Committee, which Bolick chairs, will take up the amendment at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The move comes days after Huerta alleged this week that Chavez raped her, leading her to give birth to two children. There are also allegations that Chavez raped two young girls. The fallout response has been quick as statues of Chavez have been covered up or removed, the United Farm Workers canceled celebrations on Cesar Chavez Day, and cities and school districts throughout the Southwest are discussing renaming efforts.

Arizona's top Republicans aren't waiting

Just the News reported that Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said he was shocked by the allegations. In a phone interview Friday afternoon, he stated:

"A person who has committed such a heinous act should not be honored in any way. This is an evil man. There's no way our state should have a state holiday for a man who raped these women."

House Speaker Steve Montenegro, R-Surprise, struck the same tone in his response:

"We are not going to keep honoring a man who committed sexual abuse against children and assaulted women."

Montenegro also pointed to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has already canceled plans to honor Chavez on March 31, as evidence that this shouldn't be a partisan fight.

The clock is ticking

It normally takes 17 days to pass a law in Arizona, and Cesar Chavez Day falls on March 31, just less than two weeks away. Petersen acknowledged the tight timeline but said lawmakers are moving as fast as they can. He also said he expects Gov. Hobbs to sign the bill.

Bolick added that the bill is "about ensuring Arizona law reflects a clear commitment to protecting victims and upholding accountability."

Petersen expects bipartisan support. As he put it, "The Republicans are leading the way on this, but I think Democrats will be on board with this." That remains to be seen, but the political ground has shifted so quickly that opposing the repeal would be a difficult position for anyone to hold.

A national reckoning, led from the right

Cesar Chavez Day is a state holiday in Arizona, California, and seven other states. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Thursday that the city plans to rename Cesar Chavez Day as "Farm Workers Day." Petersen noted the broader trend: "I'm seeing efforts at all levels of government to scrub his name."

When asked whether Arizona might rename the holiday rather than eliminate it, Petersen was direct. "It's an interesting question," he said. "We have Labor Day."

That's a revealing answer, and the right one. The impulse to simply rebrand the holiday, to keep the day off while swapping the name, misses the point. The holiday existed to honor a specific man. If that man is credibly accused of monstrous crimes, the appropriate response is to stop honoring him, not to launder the calendar date with a new label.

The broader question of civic memory

Pedro Hernandez, the California state program director for GreenLatinos, a Latino-led environmental nonprofit, offered a different perspective in a phone interview Friday. The Fresno resident, who lives in California's agricultural San Joaquin Valley, said he would prefer renaming the holiday rather than ending it:

"There were thousands of other people who were doing this same work and were committed to the same vision for the people who keep America fed and sacrificed their bodies and so much."

Hernandez also acknowledged the speed with which the Latino community has responded to the allegations, calling it "a sign that we are still very strong and open to accepting these truths in recognition that people were hurt."

There is something admirable in that honesty. But the argument for keeping the holiday under a different name is ultimately an argument for preserving a political institution that was built around a fraud. The farm workers movement was real. The sacrifices were real. Cesar Chavez, however, was the figurehead, and that figurehead now stands accused of rape by the woman who co-founded his movement.

Petersen noted that no state parks in Arizona are named after Chavez. The 116-acre Cesar Chavez National Monument is a federal designation, a separate matter. But the speed with which governments at every level are distancing themselves tells you everything about how seriously these allegations are being taken.

What this says about who we honor

For decades, Cesar Chavez occupied a peculiar place in American civic life. He was a labor organizer who opposed illegal immigration, which made him inconvenient for the modern left. He was a Latino icon whose actual policy views on border enforcement would get him called a white supremacist on social media today. The holiday bearing his name was always more about symbolism than substance, a way for progressive politicians to signal solidarity with Latino voters without grappling with what Chavez actually believed.

Now the symbolism has collapsed under the weight of something far worse than ideological inconsistency. Allegations of sexual violence against women and children have a way of clarifying things.

Petersen summarized it cleanly: "People are moving quickly to make sure his legacy is not preserved." He's right. And Arizona Republicans are leading that charge, not because it's politically convenient, but because honoring an alleged rapist from the state capitol is something no serious government should tolerate for one day longer than necessary.

March 31 is nine days away. The Legislature should make sure it's just another Monday.