LAKEVIEW — State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz was not expecting such fierce opposition to a House bill — especially not from a group of Boy Scouts.
During a visit with students from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy on Monday, Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) spoke with the youngsters about the legislative process. To demonstrate how a bill becomes law, she showed them House Bill 208, which seeks to designate pumpkin pie as the official state pie of Illinois.
But when Feigenholtz explained the bill to the third- and fourth-grade students, she got more responses than she bargained for.
"In all my years as a lawmaker, I've never seen such indignation," said Feigenholtz, whose district covers parts of Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Uptown and Near North Side. "Those kids really don't like pumpkin pie."
Ariel Chueng says the kids weren't shy about their thoughts:
In letters to the bill's chief sponsor, State Rep. Keith Sommer (R-Morton), the Boy Scouts offered alternatives to pumpkin pie like "bluebarry," "penut butter choclite" and "key lime." Basically, anything but pumpkin.
"NO Pumkin pie. I said Nooooooooo pumkin pie. You heard me Noooooooooooooooooo pumkin pie. Sincerely Connor," wrote one impassioned future voter.
House Bill 208 will go before the Museums, Arts & Cultural Enhancement Committee during a Thursday hearing. Sommer did not immediately return a request for comment.
If the bill passes, Illinois will join two other states with official pies. Key lime pie was named Florida's official pie in 2006. Vermont chose apple for its state pie in 1999.
Four other states have pies as official desserts and treats, including Louisiana (Natchitoches meat pie is the state pie), Maine (the state dessert is blueberry pie with wild Maine blueberries, and the state treat is a whoopie pie), Massachusetts (Boston cream pie is the state dessert) and Oklahoma (pecan pie was named the state dessert in 1988).
In 2007, Illinois designated gold rush apples as its state fruit, while its official snack food is popcorn.
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