Ask Us: Why Aren't All State Flags Flying At Half-Staff For Senator McCain?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Flags have flown at half-staff since Senator John McCain's death on Saturday; however, a viewer wrote to say the only state building flying a flag at half-staff is the State Capitol and he wanted to know why.
Barry Trute wrote:
"Why are all the flags at California state offices not at half-staff? I work in the Natural Resources building and I can see over to the Capitol and next door to the Water Resources building and the Energy Commission. None of these buildings are flying their U.S. and California flags at half-staff. Why is that? Well, I run into this pretty much every time the President proclaims the flags to be flown at half-staff."
We took Barry's question to the Governor's office and were told the President's proclamation is a federal proclamation and only applies to federal buildings. Governor Brown has authority over state buildings. The typical policy and procedure followed by this administration, as well as previous administrations, is to fly only the flag at the State Capitol at half-staff, not the flags at all state buildings. The flag at the Capitol is symbolic and represents the entire state.
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CBS13 was told the flag at the Capitol will continue to fly at half-staff until Senator McCain's internment. Typically the flag only flies at half-staff for 72 hours.
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