PA candy controversy as Council Rock North students help pick official state sweet

🍫The "Hershey Kiss Committee" began work on the bill three years ago

🍫They witnesses the House pass the bill Wednesday

🍫Not everyone is on board with the designation

An eighth-grade class project by Council Rock North students is on its way toward completion three years later.

The students who called themselves the Hershey Kiss Committee, worked with state Rep. Tom Mehaffie, R-Dauphin, on a bill to make Hershey Kisses the official candy of Pennsylvania. They watched as the House gave its approval by a vote of 130-71 Wednesday.

The Hersheypark theme park and Hershey factory are in Mehaffie's county.

“I’m hopeful that we can get an expedited review and vote in the Senate not for my sake, but for the teenagers who actually wrote this bill as part of their civics education,” Mehaffie said in a statement.

Debate over candy

State Rep. Perry Warren, D-Bucks, who worked with the students at the start of the project, said the students are now 11th graders at Council Rock North. He was surprised at the heated debate over the bill.

PennLive reported that state Rep. Paul Schemel, R-Franklin, was concerned about picking one candy over another. The Boyer Candy Co. makes Mallow Cups in Altoona and Goldenberg's Peanut Chews are manufactured in Bethlehem.

It was also brought up that Hershey moved some of its production to Mexico in 2007

Other official Pennsylvania state symbols include:

• State Bird: Ruffed Grouse
• State Dog: Great Dane
• State Animal: White-tailed Deer
• State Tree: Eastern Hemlock
• State Fish: Brook Trout

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