'Sweet Bill': Florida Lawmakers Eat Up Strawberry Shortcake Dessert Proposal

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) -- A proposal that would designate strawberry shortcake as Florida's state dessert, not to be confused with the state pie, is ready to be served up in both legislative chambers.

The House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday gave final committee approval to a bill (HB 567) that would lead to strawberry shortcake — topped by "a healthy dollop" of whipped cream to honor the state's dairy industry — joining 43 other state symbols that include the state flag, state rodeo, state fiddle contest, state fruit, state reptile and state wildflower.

The House and Senate have taken a lighthearted approach to the proposal, with Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, calling the proposal "the sweetest bill you're going to hear all day and probably all year."

The proposal highlights the thousands of acres of strawberries grown each year, particularly in the Plant City area.

The Orange became the state fruit in 2005. Key lime pie has been the state pie since 2006.

"We're not stepping on the pie," McClure said. "The key lime pie is a state pie. We're not displacing that. Actually, I think we were talking about key lime pie, maybe more than we have since it became the state pie. So, that's a good thing."

The full Senate is scheduled to take up its version of the bill (HB 1006) on Thursday.

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