The Connecticut General Assembly made the American robin the state’s bird in 1943, the praying mantis the state insect in 1977 and the Eastern oyster the state shellfish in 1989.

Will this be the year of pizza?

A bill by New Haven state Sen. Gary Winfield has proposed for a second time to make pizza the state food, “To recognize the contribution of pizza to the state’s cuisine and economy.”

A similar “pizza bill” proposed in 2021 was overwhelming passed in the House, but didn’t make it to a Senate vote.

The New Haven pizza expert who brought the idea to Winfield, Colin M. Caplan, believes this will be the year.

“We have a strong delegation backing this cause — people who love pizza,” said Caplan, producer of the film, “Pizza, a Love Story,” and author of “Pizza in New Haven,” a history New Haven families immersed in the pizziera business.

Caplan also runs Taste of New Haven, which gives culinary tours and classes, including for pizza.

“Everytime this bill comes up, people have a smile on their face,” Caplan said. While there are so many important laws that need creating, the pizza bill, “doesn’t get in the way of the others,” he said.

Caplan said he got the idea to make pizza the official state food during the pandemic as a way to “elevate local businesses” and bring attention to the state.

“It was really about pride, prowess and respect back to family-run businesses,” Caplan said.

He said Connecticut doesn’t have a state food and no other state has pizza as its food.

Caplan brought the idea to state Rep. Pat Dillon in 2020, who got Winfield on board. He said the recreational marijuana bill dominated the session and the pizza bill wasn’t heard in the Senate.

But during the process, the pizza bill made national news and soon, the governor of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey were having Twitter wars over who had the best pizza.

“There’s no question it’s good for Connecticut. The state is full of great pizzieras.”

He said the bill is as much about economic development as it is pizza, from the restaurant workers through to those who manufacture the pizza boxes.

While New Haven is home to some of the most nationally renowned pizzerias, Sally’s, Pepe’s, Modern, and nearby in West Haven, Zuppardi’s, there are great ones throughout the state, he said. “Every city, every town has it’s favorite pizzeria,” he said.

Dillon said she thought the pizza bill was a nice affirmation of something the state is good at. Dillon said she once heard that chain pizzieras never stood a chance at success in Connecticut because people are so “wedded” to their local pizza restaurants.

She said they had an “upbeat” 15-minute conversation about the 2021 bill on the House floor and it easily passed, but was never taken up in the Senate.

Dillon said that during the pandemic people were “virtuous” about getting take-out food, while people making pizza were taking chances with their health.

“Those are the workers who really kept us fed. I wanted to honor them, too,” Dillon said.

“Generally the people in the House were very positive. What happened in the Senate, I really don’t know,” she noted.

This time around the pizza bill was referred to a committee.

Winfield could not be reached for comment Monday, but in a 2021 Courant story on the bill said he traveled far and wide as a member of the military eating inferior pizza before arriving in Connecticut two decades ago.

Winfield told the Courant, “When I got to New Haven, I said, ‘I think I have to admit that this pizza’s really good. New Haven in particular is amazing, it really is.”

Winfield, a longtime Elm City resident and father of twins, said in 2021 that the bill was, “kind of a fun thing,” and admitted, “Pizza is a big part of my life.”

At a hearing on the 2021 bill, state Rep. Daniel Fox, a Stamford Democrat who co-chaired the committee that held a public hearing on the issue, said testimony showed that pizza generates an estimated $8.2 billion in sales annually statewide across 169 towns.

“Pizza is a source of pride,” Fox said at the time, mentioning Hope Street Pizza and others in his hometown of Stamford.

State Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, a Republican from Wolcott, said at the time, “Who doesn’t love pizza? It’s probably one of our favorite foods here in Connecticut. ... I think we all love pizza.”

Rep. Tim Ackert, a Coventry Republican who supported the bill in 2021, said he prefers lobster rolls.

“We have five pizza joints in the little, tiny town of Coventry,” Ackert said. “I’m just amazed at the amount of pizza restaurants that a town can sustain when we have five in a 12,000-person town.”