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Tie House vote saves Bunker Hill, Evacuation Day

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 4, 2009 09:24 AM

By Gintautas Dumcius and Michael Norton, State House News Service

In a rare tie vote, the House preserved Bunker Hill Day and Evacuation Day Wednesday night after a spirited debate over whether the Suffolk County-only holidays should be scrapped in the name of increased productivity in tough times or saved to honor the role Boston played in the Revolutionary War.

Republican House members pushed the plan to eliminate the holidays, which give state and municipal employees days off. The opposition piled up just enough votes for a 78-78 tie, defeating the amendment.

Some Democrats took the vote as an opportunity to rip the media, including the Boston Globe and Herald "who want to run the state from Morrissey Boulevard and Herald Square," said Representative James Fagan, a Democrat from Taunton.

"I'm going to vote to preserve our history and those two days. I'm not going to be backed up by the cynics and the haters," Fagan said.

The Globe reported last week about a similar push in the Senate that failed by a vote of 17 to 22. Click here to read that story, which included video of the Senate's debate.

Bunker Hill Day on June 17 celebrates the battle in Charlestown in 1775 that almost crippled the British Army. Evacuation Day, which coincides with St. Patrick's Day on March 17, commemorates when the Continental Army hauled 50 cannons up Dorchester Heights in 1776 and forced the British out Boston.

Republicans touted the proposal as a symbolic way to regain the public's trust, shattered by recent Beacon Hill scandals, including Tuesday's indictment of former House speaker Salvatore DiMasi.

"What we're saying by eliminating those holidays is we get it," said House Minority Leader Brad Jones. "We get it, with a public that has tremendous concerns that we are disconnected from them, that we don't appreciate their plight, that we're here defending holidays that affect only one county."

Added Representative Paul Frost, a Republican from Auburn: "Government should still be open on those days in Suffolk County as well as every county. That's an important message to bring back to our constituents."

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat from Winthrop, voted to save the holidays. The Boston delegation, with the exception of Democratic Representative Martha Walz, also backed the holidays. To read the full roll call, click here.

Earlier on Wednesday, Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray said the proposed elimination of the two holidays was worth discussing, given the current economic climate.

"There is a legitimate question, I think, as to why one county benefits and others don't," said Murray when asked about the issue after a meeting of the Governor's Council, which he chairs. "So I certainly think the debate is warranted."

Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei, a Republican from Wakefield, has said he plans to file the plan as a standalone bill.

"We'll talk about it, we'll look at it," Murray said. "I don't know what the savings are. But certainly I think it's something we should be looking at in this environment."