Viva Chavez

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Once again California, first in freeways and orange groves, leads the nation -- this time in honoring the life of the country's foremost Hispanic civil rights leader with a state holiday.

State employees will get a paid day off this year, on Friday, March 30, in honor of Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers union. Legislation creating a holiday on the Monday or Friday nearest his March 31 birthday was approved by the California legislature and signed by Gov. Gray Davis last summer.

"When children learn about the great life of Martin Luther King, Jr., they will also learn about the great life of Cesar Chavez," said Davis when he signed the California legislation on Aug. 18, 2000. "With …