California plastic straw law serves jail time to restaurant workers
California officials are proposing a bill that would imprison waiters at sit-down restaurants if they opt to offer customers plastic drinking straws.
The “Straws Upon Request” legislation AB-1884 introduced by Majority Leader of the California State Assembly Ian C. Calderon makes providing a straw without being specifically requested by a restaurant patron punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
“Why are these limousine liberals imposing these weird sacrifices,” conservative commentator Kurt Schlichter asked FOX Business’ Liz MacDonald. “I guess for their weird weather religion cult, on innocent people who are just trying to get ahead.”
Calderon took to Twitter to defend the bill suggesting the intent of the law is to bring awareness to detrimental effects of plastic straws on the environment.
I’d like to clarify that #AB1884 (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.
— Ian C. Calderon (@IanCalderon) January 26, 2018
Schlichter said California officials should shift their focus to improving the lives of the homeless and the growing number of people with substance abuse problems in the state.
“They are wandering the streets, but does California do anything about them? Nah. Let’s pick on working people. People who’s just trying to make a living,” he said.
Calderon, in a statement said, an estimated 500 million straws are used in the U.S. each day.