General Circular #1583

STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

General Circular No. 001583

To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors

Subject: Legal Holiday - Acadian Day

Issue Date: October 25, 2004

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ACADIAN DAY

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WHEREAS, pursuant to R.S. 1:55(A)(1), Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 25, 2004, is a legal holiday and a day of rest in the state of Louisiana;

WHEREAS, R.S. 1:55(B)(3) empowers the governor to authorize, by executive proclamation, the observance within the state of other holidays and half-holidays;

WHEREAS, traditionally, when the Friday after Thanksgiving Day is declared a holiday by the governor, such holiday is designated as Acadian Day to commemorate "the arrival in Louisiana of the Acadian people from the French colony, Acadie, following the ceding of that colony to England in 1713, and in recognition of the fact that much of the early economic and political development of Louisiana is directly attributable to the industry of the Acadian people, through the cultivation of land, the utilization of Louisiana's natural resources, and the interest of the Acadian people in political self-determination and American democracy," pursuant to R.S. 1:55(B)(3); and

WHEREAS, the citizens of the state of Louisiana will benefit from an additional legal holiday during a time period when families traditionally gather together to remember their blessings and promote family values;

NOW THEREFORE I, KATHLEEN BABINEAUX BLANCO, Governor of the state of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows:

SECTION 1: Friday, November 26, 2004, is declared Acadian Day in the state of Louisiana. It shall be observed as a legal holiday and a day of rest.

SECTION 2: Insofar as practicable, the appointing authorities and/or heads of all institutions, offices and departments of the state (hereinafter "appointing authority") shall permit the officers and employees under their control to observe Acadian Day as a day of rest. Nonetheless, an appointing authority shall have discretion to require said officers or employees to work on Acadian Day when, in the appointing authority's judgment, it is required for the efficient administration of a state facility, the operation of which is necessary and indispensable to the citizens of this state.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the city of Baton Rouge, on this 2nd day of September 2004.