California Lawmakers Delay Bill Making Election Day A Holiday
SACRAMENTO (AP) -- California lawmakers have delayed a proposal to make Election Day a statewide holiday.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted Thursday to delay action for one year on Assembly Bill 177 that would have closed schools and given all state employees a day off on Election Day every other November.
Backers argued the bill could have boosted voter turnout.
But legislative staffers estimated providing a day off or overtime to state employees would have cost California's government tens of millions of dollars.
California law already requires employers give workers who do not have time to vote before or after their shifts up to two hours off with pay to cast a ballot.
Colorado lawmakers this year also considered a turn Election Day into a holiday. But that measure did not pass.
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