(as of 4/20/2026) I was advocating in California without realizing there is already state legislative recognition. All U.S. residents can request local proclamations, executive proclamations, state or territorial legislative resolutions, & federal resolutions. Since Alaska already has statutory recognition of ME/CFS awareness in law, residents can focus instead on floor or committee recognition, agency implementation, and Governor proclamations. Since California has a state legislative resolution, residents can pursue the same actions as Alaska and also pursue statutory recognition (law).

Executive proclamation: Governor/Territorial Leader/President statement for a year.

Legislative resolution: A statement voted on by state, territorial, or federal lawmakers recognizing ME/CFS awareness. (Can be for a year or ongoing)

Statutory recognition: A state or territorial law establishing ME/CFS awareness as an official observance.

For some Templates to help with advocating: May Awareness Templates 

LEGISLATIVE / STATUTORY  (Unless marked Permanent, Recognition is only for year listed)

AK - SB 60 / AS 44.12.167 (Chapter 20 SLA 2025) (2025) (Permanent) 5/12 + May

CA - SCR 40 (2017) (Permanent) 5/12 + May

IL - HR 796 (LRB104 21382 ECR 36332 r) 5/12/2026

NY - SR J1375 May 2026

VA - HR 149 5/12/2020

EXECUTIVE PROCLAMATIONS (only for ME/CFS Awareness date and/or month listed)

AZ - 5/12/2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Ducey)

CO - 5/12/2018 ME/CFS Awareness (Hickenlooper)

FL - 5/12/2019 + May 2019 ME/CFS Awareness (DeSantis)

GA - 5/12/2019 + May 2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Kemp)

HI - 5/12/2018 ME/CFS Awareness (Ige)

KY - 5/12/2019 + May 2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Bevin)

MD - 5/12/2022 ME/CFS Awareness (Hogan)

MA - May 2020 ME/CFS Awareness (Baker)

MI - 5/12/2021; May 2022 ME/CFS Awareness (Whitmer)

MN - 5/12/2022; 5/12/2023 ME/CFS Awareness (Walz)

NV - 5/12/2019 + May 2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Sisolak)

NJ - 5/12/2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Murphy)

NM - 5/12/2019 + May 2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Lujan Grisham)

NC - 5/12/2017 ME/CFS Awareness (Cooper)

OH - May 2020 ME/CFS Awareness (DeWine)

OR - May 2020 ME/CFS Awareness (Brown)

PA - May 2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Wolf)

TX - May 2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Abbott)

VT - 5/12/2024 ME/CFS Awareness (Scott)

WA - 5/12/2019 ME/CFS Awareness (Inslee)

OTHER RECOGNITION

GU - Health agency recognition (informal)

FEDERAL (MARKEY-SPONSORED RESOLUTIONS) 

S.Res.225 (2019) (116th Congress) (Passed Senate via unanimous consent 5/23/2019) 5/12/2019 (for 2019 only)

S.Res.508 (2018) (115th Congress) (Introduced, not passed)

S.Res.633 (2020) (116th Congress) (Introduced, not passed)

NO VERIFIED ME/CFS RECOGNITION FOUND

AL, AR, AS, CT, DE, ID, IN, IA, KS, LA, MP, MS, MO, MT, NE, ND, OK, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VI, WV, WI, WY