Governor and GOP politicians work on Evacuation Day

BOSTON - It may be Evacuation Day, but some Beacon Hill leaders have been going out of their way to show they are hard at work.

Gov. Deval Patrick invited reporters to a meeting on local workforce development efforts Wednesday before heading off to sit down with the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association.

House and Senate Republicans also invited reporters to a meeting they were having with business leaders.

Both Patrick and Republican lawmakers have pushed to repeal the Evacuation Day holiday for government workers in Suffolk County.

Republicans say they will offer an amendment later this year to end the holiday.

Evacuation Day commemorates the moment on March 17, 1776, when British troops retreated from a challenge posed by the Continental Army massing in South Boston.