I saw today (boston.com) that the Senate voted to eliminate Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day holidays. I’ve lived here for more than 20 years and have been stumped why they still exist. We all know one is just an excuse for St Patrick’s Day partying by Boston people. If you chopped out Patriots Day too, most of us would not miss it. Almost all of us in the private sector have to work anyway.
Will you be voting to eliminate them? I certainly hope so. I know, relative to a $28B budget, this is minimal, but symbolically it is a good thing.
-jb
Thanks, John, for speaking out on this issue.
I voted to eliminate them when the decision was brought to a roll call before the House and I will continue to vote to eliminate them when the question comes up.
Unfortunately, in this instance, I will not have a further opportunity to do that. The House passed its version of the budget in April. The Senate has been working on its version and they put this issue in to it. The next step will be a House/Senate conference committee which will work out an agreement between the branches and I will be in the position of voting up or down on that agreement — at that stage, the only option would be a protest vote against the whole budget.
The Suffolk holidays have been substantially eliminated. The number of days off available to state employees has not been reduced. But offices will remain open on these special days in Suffolk County. This was done in the last budget.