Martin Luther King Day a real state holiday or the Legislature will do it for them. Vermont adopted the third Monday in January, which falls closest to King's birthday, as a state holiday honoring the civil rights pioneer. But it's not an official state holiday.
State offices remain open and state employees can take it as a floating holiday or actually work it.
Sen. Jeb Spaulding, D-Washington, thinks that's not good enough, and he introduced a bill requiring that all of state government close for the King holiday, just as it does for Thanksgiving, Labor Day or the 4th of July. The state ought to demonstrate leadership and show by example that we're serious about diversity and the memory of Martin Luther King. The Senate Government Operations Committee agreed with Spaulding, but agreed to hold off on legislation to give the Vermont State Employees Association and the Dean administration time to try to work out a deal. They're both operating in good faith. The holdup is over whether the union would be willing to give up one of its floating holidays in favor of closing down state government on MLK Day or whether the administration would agree to add another holiday.