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Working, kind of, in a quiet State House

E-mail|Link|Comments () March 17, 2010 02:31 PM

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

At an eerily quiet State House today, the hallways were all but empty, except for a few legislators and officials who let it be known that they were working, Evacuation Day be darned.

Governor Deval Patrick invited reporters into his office, after talking about job creation with the chairs of Workforce Investment Boards from across the state. "We’re all working today," he said to a gaggle of reporters.

Patrick reiterated his support for abolishing the Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day holidays.

"I think we can find other ways to honor and respect the historical import of Evacuation Day," he said.

Less than an hour later, about 10 House and Senate Republicans invited the press corps into a cramped Senate office, where the GOP had been talking about job creation with Michael J. Widmer, the president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, and Bill Vernon, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.

Cookies with green sprinkles and St. Patrick’s Day cake with green icing had been set out on a coffee table. Several of the legislators wore green ties. One showed off his socks, which were spangled with shamrocks.

"Happy Evacuation Day," said Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei, a Wakefield Republican who is running for lieutenant governor. "We’re all here today… and we decided that we were going to take today to have a caucus to talk to some people about our current budget situation, as well as our job situation, or lack of jobs, here in the Commonwealth."

Of course, they were also taking whacks at the Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day holidays. "These two holidays are an insult to the taxpayers, a ripoff to the taxpayers," state Senator Michael R. Knapik, a Westfield Republican, told reporters. Scratching the holidays would save $5 million, he said.

Knapik, who was once criticized by fellow lawmakers for affecting an Irish brogue while arguing against the holidays on the Senate floor, defended himself today, saying he is one-quarter Irish and "loves to tell a good Irish joke as much as anyone else."

"You’ve got to love the Irish for the spirit they bring to Massachusetts," Knapik said. "But this isn’t about the Irish – it’s about the taxpayers."