Bush funeral could set taxpayers back a half-billion dollars
by Alana Goodman
| December 06, 2018 12:00 AM
The late President George H.W. Bush’s funeral service and related ceremonies could cost American taxpayers around a half-billion dollars in lost productivity and wages for federal workers and other expenses.
Bush, who passed away on Nov. 30 at age 94, will be laid to rest on Thursday at his presidential library in College Station, Texas.
Following tradition for presidential funerals, the federal government shut down on Wednesday and the 41st president’s casket was transported across the country on Air Force One for a public viewing in Washington, D.C.
The paid holiday for federal workers — including Congress and the U.S. Postal Service — could cost taxpayers upwards of $450 million, according to estimates.
A 2008 analysis by the National Taxpayers Union found that federal holidays cost taxpayers around $450 million per day in holiday pay and lost labor. That figure is based on 2004 U.S. economic data. The figure is not adjusted for inflation, and federal salaries and the federal workforce have grown since then, making it almost certain the estimate is low.
Presidential funerals — which take years of government planning — are traditionally expensive affairs.
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