Poll results: Alabama should keep the Jefferson Davis state holiday
Mike Cason
mcason@al.com
June 04, 2013
MONTGOMERY, Alabama —- Alabama should keep its state holiday in recognition of the birthday of Jefferson Davis, said a majority of respondents to an AL.com poll.
AL.com posed the question yesterday, when state offices were closed in honor of Davis, who was sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America in Montgomery on Feb. 18, 1861.
As of 1 p.m. today, 57 percent of respondents said the state should keep the June 3 holiday, and 40 percent said it should not. Three percent were undecided.
There were more than 1,600 responses to the online poll.
Mississippi is the only other state that recognizes Davis’ birthday as a holiday, and does so on Memorial Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Texas recognizes Jan. 19 as Confederate Heroes Day, in honor of Davis and Robert E. Lee.
How much does a state holiday cost taxpayers? One day of the state payroll is about $5.7 million, according to the Legislative Fiscal Office. But that does not account for the fact that some state workers, such as state troopers and state corrections officers, work on holidays.
© 2013 Alabama Media Group
On The Web: http://blog.al.com/montgomery/2013/06/poll_results_alabama_should_ke.html#incart_river_default
