Federal workers have the day off work Thursday in observance of former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral. State government workers are not getting the same time off.

Often when the president declares a day off for federal workers, state employees get that day off, too, thanks to provisions in union contracts and state law that requires it. This is how Christmas Eve often ends up as a state holiday, even though it’s not on the books as an official state holiday.

The state law covering personnel includes a list of employee holidays, including many typical days such as Labor Day and Christmas, as well as “each other day that the President of the United States or the Governor designates for general cessation of business.”

Union contracts have similar language, with one requiring time off for days declared “a holiday or non-working day” by the governor or president.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order closing “all executive departments and agencies of the federal government” on Thursday “as a mark of respect” for the former president.

Gov. Wes Moore’s administration has decided not to grant state workers the day off, despite Biden’s order.

”It is not a federal holiday,” Moore spokesman Carter Elliott IV said in a statement. “Maryland State government offices and facilities are open, and staff should report accordingly.”

State workers did get the day off and agencies were closed the last time a former president died. Then-Gov. Larry Hogan ordered state government closed for former President George H.W. Bush’s funeral on Dec. 5, 2018.

But for other recent deaths of past presidents, Maryland state government did not close based on the president closing the federal government. Maryland’s state government did not close for the funerals of President Gerald Ford in 2007 or former President Ronald Reagan in 2004. In both cases, the president at the time closed the federal government for the day.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the timing of President Gerald Ford’s death and funeral.