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S2639AFood & Beverage

Food and Drugs - Single-Use Plastic Straws

This bill allows restaurants and food service businesses to offer single-use plastic straws in self-service dispensers for customers.

Introduced37 Yea0 Nay1 Not voting
Population
Affected
25
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 27, 2026Committee Senate Commerce

Plain-English Summary

This bill relaxes the current restrictions on single-use plastic straws in food service establishments. Under existing law, restaurants and food service businesses are only allowed to provide a plastic straw if a customer specifically asks for one. This legislation amends the law to also allow businesses to offer single-use plastic straws through a single straw dispenser, allowing customers to take one themselves without having to make a verbal request.

For younger readers

Right now, if you go to a restaurant and want a plastic straw for your drink, you have to ask the waiter or cashier for one. They aren't allowed to just give it to you. This new rule changes things a little bit. It says that restaurants can put a straw dispenser out—a machine or container that gives out one straw at a time—so you can just grab a straw yourself if you want one, without having to ask.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Food service establishmentsRestaurant patronsFood service workersIndividuals with disabilitiesPlastic straw manufacturers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. The bill regulates commercial conduct regarding the distribution of plastic straws, which falls well within the state's police powers to regulate commerce and environmental protection. It does not implicate free speech, due process, or search and seizure concerns.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Increases accessibility for individuals with disabilities who rely on plastic straws, allowing them to access straws independently without having to ask staff or disclose their medical needs.
  • Reduces the burden on food service workers who previously had to field and fulfill individual customer requests for straws during busy shifts.
  • Minimizes potential conflicts or negative interactions between service industry workers and customers over the availability and distribution of plastic straws.
  • Weakens existing environmental protections by making it easier for consumers to obtain and use single-use plastic straws, likely leading to increased plastic pollution.
  • Undermines the behavioral shift away from disposable plastics that the original ban aimed to create to protect marine life and ecosystems.
  • Prioritizes corporate food service convenience and cost-savings over environmental responsibility and sustainable community practices.
For Conservatives
  • Reduces government overreach by rolling back a strict micromanagement policy on how private businesses serve their customers.
  • Increases operational freedom for food service establishments, allowing them to choose how to best provide utensils and straws to their patrons.
  • Restores consumer choice and convenience by allowing individuals to freely take a straw without having to explicitly ask permission from restaurant staff.
  • Still maintains a level of government regulation over private businesses by restricting straw distribution to specific methods rather than allowing complete free-market freedom.
  • Imposes potential costs on business owners who may feel compelled to purchase new single straw dispensing machines to comply with the specific language of the law.
  • Represents a piecemeal approach to deregulation rather than fully repealing an environmental mandate that many conservatives view as unnecessary government interference.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 2 additions

SECTION 1. Section 21-27.2-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 21-27.2 entitled "Single- Use Plastic Straws" is hereby amended to read as follows: 21-27.2-2. Prohibited practices exception. A food service establishment shall not provide a single-use plastic straw to a consumer unless requested or by the consumer or is directly taken from a single straw dispenser.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.