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Associated Press - March 3, 2009 7:14 PM ET
PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona's nickname as "The Grand Canyon State" would become official if legislation proposed Tuesday is enacted.
The state House Government Committee voted unanimously to establish "The Grand Canyon State" as Arizona's official nickname. The bill now goes to the full House after a normally routine legal review.
State historian Marshall Trimble suggested the legislation, saying he wasn't aware that the nickname wasn't official until a California fifth-grader e-mailed him to ask about Arizona's official nickname.
Trimble said other nicknames used for Arizona include the baby state, the valentine state and the copper state.
Arizona law already makes petrified wood the state fossil, the cactus wren the state bird and the Bola tie the state neckwear.
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