A bill in the Alabama legislature would end the state’s practice of combining the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday with the birthday of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, is sponsoring the legislation that was introduced Thursday and referred to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. Figures said she has been working on the bipartisan legislation with Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores, for two years. McMillan didn’t return a call from AL.com for comment.

[Read the legislation here or at the bottom of this story]

“Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert E. Lee were two men with totally different agendas, beliefs and goals,” Figures said in an email to AL.com. “To separate them as individual holidays is the right thing to do.”

Related: In Alabama, Martin Luther King Day also honors Confederate General Robert E. Lee

Figures’ bill proposes creating a separate holiday, Robert E. Lee Day, on the second Monday in October. Lee, a commander of the Confederate army, died on Oct. 12, 1870.

The second Monday in October is already a federal holiday in observance of Columbus Day. Figures said the goal of the legislation is to set aside a day to honor Lee without creating a new state holiday.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday that’s observed on the third Monday in January. Alabama and Mississippi are the only states that honor both King and Lee on that day. King was born on Jan. 15, 1929 and Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807.

While other Southern states have stopped observing some Confederate holidays, Alabama has three. In addition to the combined holiday for King and Lee in January, Alabama observes Confederate Memorial Day on the fourth Monday in April and the birthday of Jefferson Davis, who served as president of the Confederacy, on the first Monday in June.

Alabama honors the life of civil rights leader Rosa Parks on Dec. 1. Mrs. Rosa L. Parks Day isn’t a full-fledged holiday on which state offices close, the Associated Press reported, but county and city governments can choose to observe the holiday. “Each resident of Alabama is encouraged to observe the day with suitable activities," the state’s 2020 holiday calendar says.

Last year, Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, sponsored legislation to separate the King and Lee holidays. His bill, which sought to move Lee’s recognition to Confederate Memorial Day, died in the Governmental Affairs Committee.

Figures, who said she discussed the new bill with Rogers, told AL.com she believes there is bipartisan support for the legislation.

“I do believe this will pass because it is a positive bill for the state that we believe will have broad support from both parties and the citizens of Alabama,” she said. “Again, it is the right thing to do.”