SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico is one step closer to getting another holiday. Thursday, February 23, legislators in the Senate Indian, Rural and Cultural Affairs Committee voted in favor of making the so-called ‘Football Monday’ (the day after the Super Bowl) a public holiday.
Senate Bill 483, sponsored by Senators Joshua A. Sanchez (R-Cibola, McKinley, Socorro & Valencia) and Cliff R. Pirtle (R-Chaves, Eddy & Otero), would add ‘Football Monday’ to the list of legal public holidays. That would mean the February goes from having one public holiday, President’s day, to having two.
“If you look at some of the stats here: 16,100,000 people called in the day after Super Bowl,” Sanchez said. In comedic response, the committee asked the Senator if those numbers were just from Valencia County.
“It’s something that people joke about a lot. But in all seriousness, the amount of productivity lost on football Monday is huge,” Pirtle told the committee. “How is government, or how are schools, or how are things supposed to run efficiently if 15% of your people don’t show up?”
Most of the committee members enthusiastically supported the idea of a football holiday. But not everyone voted in favor.
Sen. Shannon D. Pinto (D-McKinley & San Juan) voted against the bill. When asked to explain why, she said: “I think the holiday should be for the NCAA championship.”
Despite the support in the committee meeting, the bill has a long way to go before it becomes law. Next, the bill will likely head to the Senate Finance Committee.
