Lemonade will not become Arizona’s official state drink this legislative session. It failed to pass because some lawmakers stated that there are more important bills to pass. (Photo by Jill Wellington/Pixabay)
PHOENIX – The Arizona Senate voted 18-12 against making lemonade the official drink of the state of Arizona.
Some lawmakers voted no because they said there are more important bills to decide. The Legislature is behind schedule and still needs to pass a budget.
Other lawmakers took time to debate drinks they said better represent the state.
“I’d prefer something (that) says ‘Arizona’ – and lemonade, you know, is a little generic,” said Rep. Sean Bowie, D-Tempe, who proposed horchata instead.
The proposal passed the House on a 57-3 vote in February, but lemonade proved to be controversial in the Senate.
Some other proposals include tequila, margaritas, Jamaica tea and pink lemonade.
Making lemonade the state drink was the idea of Glendale high school student Garrett Glover, who looked at the five Cs of Arizona – copper, cattle, cotton, citrus and climate – and realized all were recognized in official state insignia except citrus.
“Oranges are another citrus product that would tie in with the five Cs but Florida already has orange juice because they’ve got a lot of oranges there,” Glover said after the House vote. “No other state has lemonade as a state drink.”
In past years, the Legislature has designated an official state fish, dinosaur, firearm and neckwear.
Some senators said they’d be open to reconsidering what should be the official state drink next legislative session.
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