Pa. House gives this sweet treat its chef’s kiss of approval as the state candy

When you represent “the sweetest place on Earth,” you fight for the Kiss over its dreaded rival, the Peep.

Rep. Tom Mehaffie of Dauphin County is making a second run to cement the iconic Hershey’s Kiss as Pennsylvania’s official state candy.

A bill sponsored by Mehaffie, who represents Derry Township, home to the Hershey Company, overwhelmingly passed the House on Tuesday.

But there’s competition.

It’s the same bill that was approved by the House last year, but ignored by the Senate, where it faces a competing measure to make Just Born Peeps, made in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania’s official treat.

“I had a lot of interest from quite a few senators,” Mehaffie said Tuesday about the prospect of his bill finally making it to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk. “I think we’re getting more and more interest in the Senate.”

The designation of the Kiss as the state’s official candy is “based on their continued production in Pennsylvania,” Mehaffie said, noting that roughly 70 million kisses are produced each day with locally sourced milk, helping to keep Pennsylvania’s dairy industry afloat.

The Kiss was first introduced by Hershey in 1907.

The final vote on Mehaffie’s bill was 150-to-53, a better margin of support than last year. And it passed with no debate — unlike a year ago, when some House members questioned the wisdom of giving official preference to one candy, and others pointed out Hershey’s history of labor disputes and offshoring of some production.

But Mehaffie pointed out that the company just opened a new production facility in Derry Township, bringing more jobs into the commonwealth

“They’re spending a lot of capital in doing what they do, especially with the new expansion,” Mehaffie said. “The other thing that it does, that most people don’t know, is that it supports the Milton Hershey School.”

The Milton Hershey School, which serves disadvantaged children, is funded by a trust that holds the bulk of Hershey’s corporate stock.

The competitor to Mehaffie’s bill comes from Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh County, seeking the same state candy status for Peeps, a product of Bethlehem-based Just Born.

Pennsylvania might not yet have an official state candy, but it has a state flower (mountain laurel), beverage (milk) and dog (Great Dane).

Lawmakers spent years discussing the issue of an official state amphibian before finally moving on to legislation in 2019, giving the Eastern Hellbender that status.