How a bill becomes a laugh: NY Senate’s great yogurt debate fodder for Letterman, Stewart

ALBANY, N.Y. – The New York Senate’s debate about declaring yogurt the state’s official snack was intended to teach a fourth-grade class about government.

But mockery from David Lettermen and John Stewart left some lawmakers with a sour taste.

The Senate spent 45 minutes this week debating the merits of the legislation, which was introduced at the urging of students from a dairy-producing area in western New York.

Before passing the bill, senators mulled the distinction between snacks and meals, the implications for lactose-intolerant New Yorkers, and whether snacks like raisins or pretzels were more deserving.

Letterman and Stewart skewered the exchange on their shows, with Stewart calling the deliberations “maybe the best 40 minutes” of legislative debate ever.

The bill now moves to the Assembly.