An elementary student's science fair project inspired a bill to combat germs on grocery carts.

Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, said he first learned of the variety of bacteria on shopping cart handles in 2007 when he read about a science project by Nicole Shaw, then a student at Jones Elementary in his district.

Nicole thought of the project, "Sick Shopping Carts," when she saw a baby chewing the handle of a grocery cart.

""It was like a light bulb went off in my head. I figured there were a lot of germs on grocery carts," she told the Greensboro News-Record.

So she and her mother bought a kit and swabbed carts at four locations. Her discovery of the bacteria won at science fairs from the school through the state level and was featured on "Good Morning America."

She said she hoped to campaign for a bill called "Before You Hold Tight, Don't Forget to Wipe," to require stores provide sanitary wipes.

Though the bill failed this afternoon, Jones said he's not giving up.

"I plan to run it next year and the year after that," he said. "Sometimes legislation takes a couple years before it passes, especially in the House."

The House rejected a bill encouraging grocery stores to provide sanitizing wipes to customers to clean shopping cart handles.

Rep. Ed Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, said he filed the bill after learning that researchers determined shopping carts provided some of the most exposure to germs and were most risky for children under the age of six.

The legislation would have encouraged retailers to provide the wipes and instructed local health departments to promote their use.

The bill quickly drew derisive comments from House Republicans.

Rep. George Cleveland, a Jacksonville Republican, said the bill represented the "nanny state having fun."

"I think we're going to lead our society to the point where we're going to be so sterile, we'll all just have to live in a bubble," he said. "When I grew up, I think the saying was you had to eat a peck of dirt or you wouldn't be a healthy kid, and I believe that."

More after the jump.

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