BOISE - The Legislature is milking Idaho for all it's worth.

A bill that would designate milk as the official beverage of Idaho cleared the House Agricultural Affairs Committee on Monday, a decision that follows a record-breaking year for the state's $2 billion dairy industry.

"How could we vote against milk?" asked Rep. Liz Chavez, D-Lewiston. "It's un-American. It's un-Idaho."

While the bill has drawn humor, it is intended to decrease childhood obesity, said its sponsor, Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise. He said that soda pop consumption continues to rise while milk consumption decreases, and that the Legislature has a responsibility as role models.

"I just had a glass this morning - it was fantastic," Durst told the committee. Committee Chairman Tom Trail, R-Moscow, who is a co-sponsor, followed: "I had a glass at lunch."

The vote came shortly after a presentation by the United Dairymen of Idaho that concluded with the organization handing out duffle bags stuffed with dairy products, including cheese, yogurt and milk. Rep. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, a farmer, sipped milk during the vote.

Last month, industry officials told state lawmakers that Idaho dairies produced 10.5 billion gallons of milk. The milk production grew by 50 percent between 2000 and 2006, they said.

There are at least 18 states that have designated milk as its official state drink. Durst said that the first state to designate milk as its official beverage was New York - which, minutes earlier, Deanna Sessions of the United Dairymen of Idaho said Idaho would overcome shortly to become third in the nation in milk production.

Support for the bill came from Idaho Milk Producers, Idaho Farm Bureau and the Idaho Dairymen's Association.

The only lawmaker to oppose the bill was Rep. Bert Stevenson, R-Rupert, who joked during the meeting that it could negatively impact the sugar beet industry in Idaho. He told the secretary he wanted to be recorded voting no, but said afterward the discussion was one of "jest."

"I support sugar beets," he said after the meeting. "Not all sweeteners are bad things."

Stevenson also sits on the House State Affairs Committee, which earlier this session voted against reviewing a proposal that would have designated an official state soil. Stevenson opposed it on the grounds it was a waste of legislation.

Jared S. Hopkins may be reached at jhopkins@magicvalley.com or 420-8371.