<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="center">The state of California is at it again. There is a new eco-friendly bill on the table that sounds almost too ridiculous to be real.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A group of Democratic lawmakers has introduced a bill that would punish restaurant waiters for offering their guests &ldquo;unsolicited&rdquo; plastic straws. Individuals that commit the &ldquo;offense&rdquo; could get up to a $1,000 fine or even up to a six-month jail sentence.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;This bill would prohibit a food facility, as specified, where food may be consumed on the premises from providing single-use plastic straws to consumers unless requested by the consumer. By creating a new crime and imposing additional enforcement duties on local health agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program,&rdquo; reads the bill, that was introduced by Ian Calderon, Democratic California Assembly Majority Floor Leader. &ldquo;Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, a person who violates any provision of the code to be guilty of a misdemeanor with each offense punishable by a fine of not less than $25 or more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 6 months, or by both.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Calderon is using an environmental argument for why a bill like this is needed. According to a Reason report featuring a 2011 survey, Americans use 500 million plastic straws a day.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But, it&rsquo;s unknown how accurate this statistic really is.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;The statistic is often attributed to the U.S. National Park Service (which did ;reference ;it in a 2013 environmental call for action), but the 500 million figure ultimately rests on the word of 16-year-old ;Milo Cress, who launched a campaign in 2011 (at the age of nine) called ;Be Straw Free. Cress told ;Reason ;magazine that he arrived at the estimate, which he said has been privately endorsed by the National Restaurant Association, by conducting a phone survey of straw manufacturers in 2011. No one has proven that figure wrong, mind you; it&rsquo;s just that Cress is its only source and no one has confirmed his research independently,&rdquo; writes <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snopes.</em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Calderon is hoping the bill brings awareness to this environmental issue and that it will ultimately, persuade consumers to use fewer straws.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;We need to create awareness around the issue of one-time use plastic straws and its detrimental effects on our landfills, waterways, and oceans,&rdquo; said Calderon in a press release. &ldquo;AB 1884 is not a ban on plastic straws. ;It is a small step towards curbing our reliance on these convenience products, which will hopefully contribute to a change in consumer attitudes and usage.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evidently, the bill is getting backlash for being &ldquo;government overkill&rdquo; and for making the act of offering a straw without being explicitly asked by a guest, which is a common occurrence at restaurants, a crime.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to clarify that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AB1884?src=hash"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">#AB1884</span></a> (Straws Upon Request) is (a) NOT a ban; (b) should it become law, it will NOT make it a crime for servers to provide plastic straws. My intention is simply to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of plastic straws on our environment,&rdquo; tweeted Calderon.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the writer and law student, Tom Ciccotta points that there are so many other ways to bring awareness to this issue.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;This conflicts with the text of your bill. &#8220;By creating a new crime&#8230;&#8221; Why do you need a bill to raise awareness? Go make a TV spot, create a website, get Buzzfeed to do a write-up. Legislation is a last resort,&rdquo; tweeted Ciccotta in response. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is already a grassroots movement to ban plastic straws, just like plastic bags, gaining momentum.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;A grassroots movement to curtail or ban the use of plastic straws has been picking up steam all around California. The cities of ;Davis ;and ;San Luis Obispo ;passed straw restrictions in 2017. ;Encinatas ;and ;Berkeley ;are considering similar measures, and more than 100 restaurants in San Diego have signed onto a voluntary ;program ;to reduce plastic straw wastage in that city. Similar efforts are afoot in other parts of the country,&rdquo; writes <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snope.</em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Author&rsquo;s note:</strong> This bill is both confusing and excessive. Waiters shouldn&rsquo;t be fearful that they will end up in jail for giving out straws that their guests didn&rsquo;t ask for. Again, California lawmakers are going too far.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:</strong> California liberals are perhaps the stupidest people on earth. ; I wish there were more California conservatives to throw them out.</p>
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