Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn.NASHVILLE – He’s no NFL referee, but Gov. Bill Haslam may have thrown more “flags” in the Legislature this year than one of those striped-shirt guys has on a football field.
In politics, a “flag” puts lawmakers on notice that the administration or a department opposes their bill.
It’s usually a secretive process that erupts publicly only when a stung legislator starts yelping or a committee cites the flag when killing a bill.
Or you can just ask the governor. A public records request to Haslam’s office showed he has issued 73 flag letters as of Feb. 6, opposing bills for reasons from cost to philosophical differences.
“We write the flag letters as a courtesy to legislators and as another way to inform them of our positions,” Haslam spokesman David Smith said.