A fifth grade class at Cooper School in Milwaukee is learning about the state Legislature firsthand by proposing a bill to make cycling the Wisconsin state exercise.
The class is combining two subjects they have been studying in class, bike safety and state government. With the cycling industry adding $1.5 billion to the state economy as well as 14,000 jobs, there is a clear link between biking and Wisconsin, according to a blog post from the Wisconsin Bike Federation.
The fifth graders took their idea to state Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, to draft a bill. Larson and others worked to get a public hearing for the bill.
“I was happy to provide MPS students with the opportunity to participate in the legislative process by testifying in favor of a pro-bicycling bill,” state Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, chair of the Senate Committee on Government Operations and Consumer Protections, said in a statement.
If the bill passes, cycling would be listed as the state exercise in the annual Wisconsin Blue Book along with the state song, state ballad, state dance and state symbol, among many others.
