BOSTON—The frivolity of the annual St. Patrick's Day political roast in South Boston was broken with a spirited defense of the disputed holiday government workers will enjoy this week while most private sector workers continue to labor amid an uncertain economy.
Sen. Jack Hart, the Boston Democrat who hosted Sunday's breakfast, recalled that his preferred name for the holiday -- Evacuation Day -- commemorates the moment on March 17, 1776, when British troops retreated from a challenge posed by the Continental Army massing in South Boston.
"It's been the butt of a joke over the course of the past couple of years or so, but there's extraordinary history here," Hart told the crowd of more than 700.
He even displayed a photo of a gold medal presented to George Washington that depicted the scene. Hart said historians and Revolutionary War figures alike considered it "one of the most significant victories in American history."
Government watchdogs and many Republicans feel no such special attachment and want Evacuation Day and its June counterpart, Bunker Hill Day, repealed.
The latter refers to a June 1775 battle when colonial troops were repulsed from Bunker Hill, but not before inflicting heavy casualties on British forces that foreshadowed their eventual victory in the Revolutionary War.
"I used to think it was funny; it's not funny anymore," said Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation. "They've spent us into a crisis and the service cuts are hurting, and their cute little riffs about Evacuation Day are an insult -- especially when we have to ask are we better off with these people running Boston as opposed to the likes to the British?"
Republican legislators, meanwhile, are gathering in what will be an otherwise closed Statehouse. The members scheduled a caucus with the pro-business Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Michael Widmer and Bill Vernon, Massachusetts director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
"There's great significance to the days commemorated by the events; there is an absurdity to the day off," said Sen. Michael Knapik, R-Westfield, who has filed a bill to repeal Evacuation and Bunker Hill days.
"It's not about the history; it's about a rip-off of the taxpayers," he added.
During the two holidays, all schools, libraries and city and state offices are closed in Suffolk County, where Boston is located.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and Boston Municipal Research Bureau have determined about 35,000 workers get the day off, while Knapik estimates the two holidays cost the state $5 million in overtime and lost productivity.
State workers who are posted outside the city are given two floating days off as compensation for working while their colleagues are off. During the past two years, some senior state lawmakers have made a point of visiting their Statehouse offices and inviting reporters to witness them working.
One Democrat, Secretary of State William Galvin, will buck the overall trend by keeping his office open, as he has done for years.
Among his duties is regulating corporations and the securities industry, both of which will be working Wednesday.
