Mock Arizona license plate courtesy of state Department of Transportation.

You’ve heard the cliche that “perception is reality,” but clearly some lawmakers just don’t believe that. The state House Government Committee is scheduled to vote today on a strike-everything amendment to House Bill 2019, which would declare Arizona’s nickname to be “The Grand Canyon State.” Apparently, no one knows this always has been Arizona’s alternative moniker, no one has ever seen the state license plate, and there’s some risk that another state with a Grand Canyon will steal the nickname. So we definitely need to take time out of the Legislature’s busy schedule to place the nickname into a state statute.

What? The Legislature isn’t doing much of anything substantial while lawmakers struggle with the budget crisis, you say? Well, then, by all means they should stop twiddling thumbs and get this done. In fact, why not a constitutional amendment, to be sure that no future Legislature — or a rouge, canyon-hating judge, takes away Arizona’s right to this nickname?

Soon, the nickname of “The Grand Canyon State” will be forever protected by the power of government, alongside other official state symbols such as the state gem and the state fish, the state neck tie, and the state amphibian, mammal and reptile. (Turquoise, Apache trout, bola tie, Arizona treefrog, ringtail and ridge-nosed rattlesnake.)