[media-credit name=’JAKE NAUGHTON/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

A bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Jim Doyle will require American flags flown over Wisconsin public buildings to be American-made.

Doyle also signed a collection of bills aiming to honor Wisconsin veterans and current members of the armed forces.

Rep. Louis Molepske, D-Stevens Point, said he introduced the bill that mandates American-made flags last year on Flag Day on behalf of veterans in his district.

?The bill elicits a lot of emotion, as the American flag is the symbol that we carry into battle, that we put on coffins of our fallen American soldiers,? Molepske said. ?For a lot of people, it?s the one symbol that says, ?Hey, I?m an American.??

The new law requires flags in all Wisconsin public buildings to be manufactured in the United States. Those buildings include the Capitol, schools, university buildings and courthouses.

Molepske cited statistics from the United States Census Bureau that show in 2006, the U.S. imported 9 million American flags, a total value of about $5.3 million.

?It?s about time,? said Brian Evans, general manager at Eder Flag Manufacturing Co., in Oak Creek, Wis. ?I wish it wasn?t just for state buildings, but it?s kind of hard to regulate private people flying American flags.?

Eder Flags currently has a contract to manufacture the flags used in the Capitol. According to Evans, American-made flags are also much higher quality than many made overseas.

?It?s not even close,? Evans said. ?We should be proud to be able to make a flag that represents our country here in the U.S.?

Rep. Mark Honadel, R-South Milwaukee, said in his own small retail business, he has always seen the need to shop locally.

?This is not monumental legislation. It?s just something that helps keep America?s identity a little closer to home,? Honadel said.

He added the law would be good for Wisconsin businesses, and that the higher price of flags made in the U.S. was worth it.

?I think our Wisconsin companies realize they have to be just as competitive, or darn close, and still maintain that quality that Wisconsinites expect,? Honadel said. ?We?re not saving anybody by buying cheaply made flags.?

According to Evans, substandard quality in flags has been widespread, especially in recent years.

?After 9/11, there was an influx of tons of imported goods, and it made a huge mess of the flag market here, because people were profiteering off of the problem.?

Another bill that became law Monday bans employment discrimination based on obligations to do military service, while another allows people who have had an immediate family member die while in military service to obtain ?gold star? special license plates and lapel buttons.