PHOENIX — Arizona state senators voted Thursday to abolish the unpaid holiday honoring labor leader Cesar Chavez — but not before rejecting a bid by Democrats to rename it to honor the farmworker movement and even shutting down all debate over that proposal.
Despite that, most Democrats agreed to support House Bill 2072. Each agreed that, to honor the women who said they were the victims of his sexual abuse, it is no longer appropriate to honor Chavez. And they agreed to provide the votes necessary to make the change effective prior to Tuesday, the date of his birth — and the date that the unpaid holiday has been observed.
But Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, who tearfully told colleagues about working in the fields as a child, said she could not support a measure that only did outright repeal.
