Missouri governor’s executive order means most state employees are off on Thanksgiving and on Friday

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Most of Jefferson City/Cole County’s approximately 14,000 state employees will be off tomorrow for Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving Friday, under a one-sentence executive order signed by Governor Mike Parson.

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Missouri Governor Mike Parson thanks state employees in the Jefferson City area on November 7, 2024. The state employees enjoyed breakfast in the governor’s office (photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s Flickr page)

The governor has signed executive orders closing state offices on Thanksgiving Friday all seven years he’s been in office. Governor Parson has written a letter to all 47,000 state employees, saying “friends, family and the next generations are what it’s all about. We hope this well-deserved day off allows you an opportunity to remember the good in your lives and reflect on all that you do in service to our state.”

Governor Parson has made state employee pay a top priority: his administration has increased state employee pay by more than 20 percent since he took office in 2018.

Thanksgiving Day itself is already one of Missouri’s 13 official state holidays. Some state employees, such as the Missouri State Highway Patrol and state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) employees, in case it snows, will be working during the holiday weekend.