Like they need another day off, the bastards

Rico says history be damned, go to work like normal people; Abby Goodnough has an article in The New York Times about a nice little work scam in Massachusetts:

Quick, why is June 17th a government holiday in Boston and only there? If you answer, “Because the Battle of Bunker Hill took place on that day in 1775,” you are the scholarly sort. If you answer, “Because Boston deserves an extra holiday,” you must be a public employee here or exceptionally proud of the city’s history. And if you say, “Because lawmakers from Boston refuse to give up a pointless day off,” you agree with many in the state legislature, who are building a case for axing the holiday amid their financial crisis.
State Senator Richard Tisei, a Republican from Wakefield, in Middlesex County north of Boston, filed legislation on Friday to eliminate Bunker Hill Day and Evacuation Day, another Revolutionary War milestone that is celebrated on 17 March, as holidays. They have been paid days off for state and local government employees and schoolchildren in Boston and the rest of Suffolk County since 1935 and 1941. (Schools in Somerville also close on both holidays, as do schools in Cambridge on Evacuation Day.)
Both houses of the legislature recently rejected proposals to end the two holidays, with a 22-to-17 vote in the Senate and a 78-to-78 vote in the House. Those proposals came as amendments to budget bills, and Mr. Tisei, the Senate minority leader, is hoping that a stand-alone bill will draw more support. Governor Deval Patrick has said he would sign a bill if it passed. “At a time when we are making some real difficult cuts to vital human services,” said Kyle Sullivan, Mr. Patrick’s spokesman, “it is tough to make the argument to continue pay for these holidays.”
The savings would be small, about $6 million a year, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonpartisan watchdog group, which estimates that 35,000 public employees get the days off. But Mr. Tisei said the gesture would soothe taxpayers, who have seen ethics scandals on Beacon Hill over the last year and may soon see a 25 percent increase in the sales tax. “It may sound symbolic to some people,” Mr. Tisei said, “but the symbolism is important given the times we are in right now. When people are being laid off by the thousands, and taking pay cuts in order to keep their jobs, they look at this as an extravagance.”
Many Suffolk County lawmakers, who represent Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop, and Boston, disagree. Senator Jack Hart, a Democrat from South Boston, warned last month of setting a precedent. “If we eliminate these holidays today in Suffolk County, then what’s next?” Mr. Hart asked. “Do we eliminate maybe Presidents’ Day? Do we eliminate July 4th? Why don’t we get rid of Thanksgiving?” Mr. Hart, who did not respond to an interview request, also hinted that the proposal was sour grapes on the part of lawmakers from outside Suffolk County. “I would not go out to Hampden or Hampshire necessarily and tell your constituents to disregard what your history is,” he said, referring to counties in western Massachusetts.
Peter Drummey, librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society, said the Battle of Bunker Hill and Evacuation Day were indeed seminal events in the nation’s history. The British won the Battle of Bunker Hill, he said, but they suffered significant casualties and realized that they had underestimated their opponent. Evacuation Day— which, conveniently for this heavily Irish city, coincides with St. Patrick’s Day— commemorates the withdrawal of British forces from Boston, another turning point. “I’d just hate for there to be confusion about the importance of these events— to have that lost in an argument about whether the holidays are good public policy,” Mr. Drummey said.
Mr. Tisei said that Massachusetts was too aware of its history to let that happen, and that parades for Bunker Hill Day usually take place on Sundays anyway. All of Massachusetts celebrates a third Revolutionary War-inspired holiday, Patriots’ Day, on the third Monday in April. Its elimination has not been proposed. “It’s different,” Mr. Tisei said.

Rico says different? No, Gay Pride Day is different. This is featherbedding...