House OKs bill designating rice as official grain of Arkansas

The House approved legislation today designating rice as the official grain of Arkansas. The bill, which passed the House by a 97-to-two vote, now heads to the Senate.

Representative Bruce Maloch, the bill's sponsor, says he introduced the measure at the request of his 12-year-old daughter. Maloch says his daughter had asked him file the proposal before this year's session, but he was reluctant to do so.

Maloch says he decided to file the measure after his daughter threatened to lobby Representative John Paul Wells, who successfully pushed for naming the Diana Fritillary the official butterfly of the state.