HOUSE BILL NO. 5509
February 20, 2020, Introduced by Rep. Wakeman
and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes the outstanding contribution to American history made by Saginaw County, Michigan native Robert G. Heft, the designer of the 50-star flag of the United States of America. In the spring of 1958, Robert G. Heft spent 12-1/2 hours over one weekend fashioning a new design from his family's 48-star flag for a United States history class project from his teacher, Stanley Pratt at Lancaster High School in Ohio. While Robert G. Heft was only given a grade of B minus for his effort, Stanley Pratt offered to change the grade if Robert G. Heft could get Congress to accept his design. After repeated letters to his congressman and phone calls and letters to the White House, President Dwight Eisenhower notified Robert G. Heft by phone that out of approximately 1,500 submitted designs, his design had been selected as the new flag of the United States of America through Executive Order No. 10834, signed on August 21, 1959. On July 4, 1960, the 50-star flag was officially raised for the first time in a ceremony at Washington, D.C. Teacher Stanley Pratt declared, "If it is good enough for Congress, it is good enough for me. I hereby change the grade to an A". In recognition of the contribution that Robert G. Heft made to our nation, the legislature declares that August 21 of each year shall be known as "Robert G. Heft day".
(2) The legislature encourages each individual in the great state of Michigan to pause on Robert G. Heft day and reflect on the significance of Robert G. Heft's contribution to the history of Michigan and to the history of this great nation.