The Connecticut state Senate worked overtime and into the wee hours Wednesday morning to pass a bill that had to do with exemptions and property taxes.

And Sue Bird.

The interesting part of SB477 came in the 111-page amendments put before the Senate for consideration. The amendments mostly dealt with revisions to the state budget but had a snippet about UConn alum Bird and the state bird.

In passing the bill and amendments by a 25-11 margin, the Senate approved making Bird, a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the co-official state bird (in person form) for the month of March.

You’ll have to move aside, American robin, and share your perch as Connecticut state bird in March – when we have seen Sue Bird at her best in the NCAA Tournament.

“The American robin, Turdus migratorius, shall be the state bird, provided in the month of March of each year, the American robin and Suzanne Brigit Bird, also known as Sue Bird, shall be the state birds,” the bill reads.

The bill and its amendments were approved by the state House of Representatives later Wednesday but still must be signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont.

“I think it’s a great honor,” Matt Ritter, speaker of the house, said to reporters Wednesday. “It speaks well to our love affair with our university and our basketball team and the month of March, and what it means to the state, so I think it’s a nice gesture.”

The UConn women have owned March under head coach Geno Auriemma, who just completed his 42nd season at the helm of the Huskies.

They have won 12 national championships in 25 appearances in the Final Four and played in 37 NCAA Tournaments with a record of 146-25. They would have had another appearance, had it not been for the cancellation of the 2020 tournament due to the pandemic.

Bird, now 45, played for the Huskies from 1998-2002 and won national championships with the team in 2000 and ’02. Her number 10 was retired in December.

As a senior, she was the Associated Press Player of the Year, the Big East Player of the Year and a first-team AP All-American.

In the 2002 NCAA Tournament, Bird averaged 17.7 points, 6.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game. The Huskies defeated Oklahoma 82-70 in the title game.

In the 2000 tournament, UConn beat Tennessee 71-52. That year, the sophomore Bird averaged 11.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.5 steals.

The Seattle Storm selected Bird with the No. 1 pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft. That was the only franchise she played with until her retirement following the 2022 season. In that span, she won four WNBA titles, was a 13-time All-Star and an eight-time All-WNBA selection and led the league in assists three times.

She is the WNBA’s all-time leader in assists (3,234), games played (580) and minutes (18,080). She is second in 3-point field goals (1,001) to another UConn alum, Diana Taurasi (1,447).

An international basketball star as well, Bird now serves as the managing director of the U.S. women's national team. Bird won five Olympic gold medals and was inducted into the FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame in April.

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