Alabama has recently closed a gap in its legal framework and statutes, where there was previously no official cookie recognized. The "Alabama Yellowhammer", however, is now the state's cookie. When Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB 421, into law, on June 2.

The cookie bill was passed in just 23 days, a rapid legislative process. It is a testament to the improvement of Alabama's legislative process, as it took over 120 years for the racist language in the state constitution to be removed. The "Ginormous Constitution of Alabama Will Be Recompiled and Made Less Racial" (Nov. 10 2020). It is still huge, and probably the longest constitution in the world. Longer than India's is a big deal. But it has become less racist. Things are improving in many ways.

As with most bills of this type, it is the students who are to be thanked or blamed for HB 421. Students at a Montgomery school decided to create a state cookie (for an unknown reason) and submitted recipes. The seniors in the government class of the school lobbied Rep. Reed Ingram, who bravely sponsored the bill. The bill "rose like a baked treat" in the legislature, and was quickly passed and sent to Governor.

As this statement from Governor's Office noted, the fourth-grader that submitted the winning recipe attended the signing ceremony.

Mary Claire Cook, a Montgomery 4th-grader and the recipe creator for these cookies, brought a batch to Governor Ivey's office earlier today. While reviewing the legislation, the governor taste-tested the cookie, gave her stamp of approval, and signed the bill officially naming the Yellowhammer Cookie as the official state cookies.

The Governor Ivey shared this comment: "Sweet home Alabama just got sweeter!"

I liked the idea that Ivey was evaluating Cook's product. I imagined that he might have taken a bit and broken a tooth. He might then have spit out some crumbs. Ivey would have said something like, "Ugh! Was that made of dung? Child, you'll never bake again", then press a button to release a trapdoor beneath the fourth-grader as HB 421 is ripped apart. If there was a risk, it didn't come to pass. The Yellowhammer was a success in the taste test and Alabama got sweeter. However, the extent of this alleged sweetness increase is still not clear.

We have seen that sometimes there is a lack of clarity in the relationship between a state and its official thing. Alabama, for example, has an official state fossil, namely all the remains of Basilosaurus cetoides. These fossils are found in Alabama today, but were formed many years before Alabama was founded. Delaware has an official star in the constellation Ursa Major, but it doesn't appear to exist. The connection here is more concrete, as the recipe contains pecans, which are the official state nut, and the cookie seems to be named after a yellowhammer, the official state bird.

It's only been two weeks since the cookie was first associated with Alabama.