As for Johnson, his position hasn’t changed, a spokesperson confirmed in a statement this week. “We are currently $28 trillion in debt with trillions more guaranteed to be added over the next few years with Biden and the Democrats’ reckless spending proposals,” said Alexa Henning. “As the Senator said at the time he didn’t think this should be done without discussion, debate, or even a vote on how we are to spend the $600 million to give two million people a day off with pay.”
Johnson’s figure reflects the estimated cost of how much federal employees would earn for a day not working, plus overtime for essential employees. Most of that amount, however, would not show up in the federal deficit, because it’s not an additional incurred expense.
Johnson offered an amendment to the bill last year that would have made Juneteenth a federal holiday but would have taken away a paid vacation day from government employees.
Making Juneteenth a federal holiday would give federal government employees the day off, or a designated Monday or Friday near it, but the private sector is another story. It would put some pressure on other employers to match the federal government’s schedule, but while most federal holidays are widely observed, others — like Columbus Day, Veterans Day and MLK Day — are just regular days for a lot of American working stiffs.
Americans toil away more than most of their counterparts in other wealthy nations. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, U.S. workers averaged 1,779 hours worked in 2019, ranking them tenth for most worked among its 37 member countries. That’s above the OECD average of 1,726 annual hours worked, and above nations with reputations for hard work like Japan (1,644), Switzerland (1,557) and Germany (1,386).
The Link LonkMay 20, 2021 at 05:01PM
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Juneteenth is not a federal holiday. These lawmakers are trying again - Roll Call
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Holiday
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