The majority leader of the California State Assembly has introduced a bill that would, as written, impose jail sentences of up to six months if a restaurant worker hands out a single unsolicited plastic straw.
Ian Calderon, D, has blamed a miscommunication for the bill's strict criminal penalties and promised to remove them before it's voted on.
"I understand all the commotion about the penalties," Calderon told The Washington Post, referring to reports on Fox News and beyond, as well as outrage on Twitter. "They were never intended to be in the bill."
But repercussions have already spread beyond California, complicating a national movement to eliminate drinking straws.