Yesterday was busy for New Hampshire's state senators, who tackled a diverse list of bills including ones dealing with the state fruit, eminent domain, elder abuse and propane safety.

Here's a look at some of their decisions:

• The Senate gave its blessing to a proposal to make the pumpkin the state fruit. The bill now heads to the governor to be signed.

The idea came from a group of third and fourth graders at Wells Memorial Elementary School in Harrisville. The youngsters have been lobbying lawmakers to vote for the pumpkin bill and were invited to watch the vote from the Senate floor.

Senators supported the pumpkin 23-to-1. Alton Sen. Robert Boyce, a Republican, was the one holdout, arguing in favor of the strawberry. He also told the students they had spent too much time at the State House rallying support for the proposal.

New Hampshire has no official state fruit, though it has lots of other official things, including a state bird, insect, mineral, saltwater game fish, and tree, to name a few.

Both the children and the bill's sponsors are from the Keene area, which holds a popular annual pumpkin festival.

• The state would create a registry to track anyone who abuses elderly or disabled adults in their care under a bill approved by a voice vote. The database would be similar to one currently used to prevent anyone with a history of child abuse from working with small children.

• Senators endorsed a constitutional amendment that would restrict the use of eminent domain. This is one of several steps lawmakers have taken to buck a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows a municipality to use eminent domain to seize property and turn it over to a private developer.

• Senators also passed a resolution commending local businesses for their support of the National Guard, and tabled another resolution that would urge the federal government to loosen its restrictions on stem-cell research.

• The Senate passed new rules for workers who install or service gas or propane lines. The bill came in response to the death of a 5-year-old girl who was killed by an explosion at her family's vacation home in Moultonboro. A worker had accidentally cut through a gas line and failed to cap it. When the family arrived and turned on the gas for a clothes dryer, the basement filled with propane, triggering an explosion that injured several family members and killed Amilia Rose Luhrman.

The new regulations are known as "Amilia's Law." Her parents had advocated for the tighter rules and were on the Senate floor when the vote took place.

The regulations call for the state fire marshal's office to set up license requirements and technical standards for fuel gas fitters. It allow the state fire marshal's office to conduct inspections and to suspend or revoke licenses if fuel gas fitters don't comply.

The governor is expected to sign the bill into law.