New TNJ alert: A pricey plan to revive the old Legislative Plaza, a new deputy governor, and an interview with Ortagus
_ Planned overhaul of old legislative complex costlier than new one, state to ‘dispose’ of controversial office tower.
_ Legislative roundup: Campbell approved for Supreme Court, standardized test requirement punted in Senate.
_ The outsider’s insider: Butch Eley named top Lee deputy.
_ Congressional races: An interview with Morgan Ortagus after she jumps into the 5th District race with Trump’s endorsement in hand.
Also: David Lillard doubles down on fossil fuel investments, a “mysterious man” walks along the Smokies, battle lines are forming in the Hamilton County mayor’s race, and a very large check arrives in an unmarked envelope.
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Legislation seeks to move General Assembly flag to Cordell Hull
The flag of the Tennessee General Assembly is a bit of a curiosity. It flies above the Capitol when the legislature is in session. And, as it turns out, outside the Legislative Plaza office complex, according to the state law books. The only problem is that General Assembly no longer operates out of the old subterranean office space, having decamped to the Cordell Hull building last year.
Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) now wants to do something about that. He has introduced SB94, which would move the flag from the Legislative Plaza to the Cordell Hull.
The flag of the General Assembly was adopted in 1987 after being designed by Sheila Adkins, a high school student at Knoxville’s Fulton High School. According to the Blue Book, she “chose white for purity, blue to denote respect for Tennessee, red as the traditional color for America; stars to symbolize the state’s three Grand Divisions; wheat for agricultural heritage; and the gavel for the power of the people vested in the state’s legislative body.”
