Oklahoma senator files bill to ban paper, pasta straws

OKLAHOMA CITY (KTUL) — A state senator from Broken Arrow now wants to ban paper and pasta straws here in Oklahoma.

Sen. Nathan Dahm filed Senate Bill 1065 in honor of Earth Day yesterday. The bill would ban them across the state.

In a press release, he said the "hatred of paper straws is nearly universal."

Under the measure, any licensed food establishment in the state that provides a consumer with a straw cannot distribute straws made of non-plastic materials, including, but not limited to, paper or pasta.

“You have states, like California, where the leftist loons have banned plastic straws because they saw a video on social media about a sea turtle that was harmed by ingesting a straw,” Sen. Dahm said in a press release. “So, under the guise of helping the planet, they’ve banned plastic straws, resulting in who knows how many trees now being cut down to make paper straws.”

While some may not find the seriousness in this issue, Dahm said plastic straws should actually be celebrated.

“Some may think this bill is silly, and I certainly would prefer if we just legalized freedom and pursued an actual free market,” Dahm said in a press release. “But as long as there are those interfering in the market with things like plastic straw bans, I’ll engage in any way possible to expose and counter those regulatory schemes... In all seriousness, plastics and petrochemicals have changed our planet for the better."

However, since the bill was filed after the deadline, it can only receive a hearing as a committee bill, or he can refile it ahead of next year's legislative session.