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 A California lawmaker recently introduced legislation that would prohibit servers from offering plastic straws at sit-down restaurants unless one is requested. 
 
 Assembly Bill 1884, proposed by Majority Leader Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, would make providing a straw without being asked punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a fine not to exceed $1,000, under the existing California Retail Food Code. 
 
 That law states, "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." 
 
 However, Calderon noted the law would eventually be amended to eliminate the tough penalties. 
 
 "The penalties are attached to the code section the bill is currently in. That will change. Amendments are part of the legislative process," he responded in a tweet when specifically asked about the $1,000 fine. 
 
 The law would only apply to sit-down restaurants, and not bars and fast-food restaurants, according to the bill. 
 
 Calderon also emphasized the bill isn't a ban on plastic straws. The law's intention, he said, is not to make it a crime for servers to hand out plastic straws. 
 
 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 
 
 Instead, the bill is aimed at reducing the environmental damage from plastic that winds up in landfills, waterways and ocean, as well as to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of straws, according to Calderon. 
 
 About 500 million straws are used every day in the U.S., a news release from his office stated. ||||| Sacramento, CA – Majority Leader Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) introduced Assembly Bill 1884 this week, a measure that calls upon dine-in restaurants to have a straws-upon-request policy. 
 
 “We need to create awareness around the issue of one-time use plastic straws and its detrimental effects on our landfills, waterways, and oceans,” stated Majority Leader Calderon. “AB 1884 is not 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.” 
 
 Plastic is a material that lasts forever, yet 33 percent of all plastics are used just once and thrown away. Only 9% of all plastics are recycled, but due to their small size and lack of a resin code, no straws are ever recycled. After their one-time use, non-biodegradable plastic straws often end up in our oceans and waterways where they break down into smaller, micro-size pieces that are discarded into our environment. They are oftentimes mistaken as food by marine life. 
 
 An estimated 500 million straws are used in the United States every day. This number is enough to fill over 127 school buses each day and is calculated to be about 1.6 straws per person in the U.S. In a summary of all trash collected as part of California’s Coastal Cleanup Day between 1989 and 2014, straws and stirrers rank as the 6th most common item collected. AB 1884 is a step toward lowering these alarming figures and is a simple way for consumers to change their plastic use behavior. 
 
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 Contact: Lerna Shirinian (562) 692-5858
– Restaurant servers who give customers plastic drinking straws they haven't asked for will have to suck up a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine or six months in prison under a controversial bill in California. The bill was introduced in the State Assembly by Majority Leader Ian Calderon last week, and the Democrat says it will eventually be amended to drop the harsh penalties, 10News reports. "The penalties are attached to the code section the bill is currently in," he said when asked about the fines. "That will change. Amendments are part of the legislative process." The proposed ban on handing out straws without being asked will apply only to sit-down restaurants, not fast-food outlets or bars. In a tweet, Calderon said the "Straws Upon Request" bill "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." Calderon, whose office noted in a press release that some 500 million plastic straws are thrown away in the US every day and that they're one of the most common items collected in coastal cleanups, says the bill is part of wider efforts to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in waterways and the ocean, KTLA reports. (California banned single-use plastic bags in 2014.)