Article in the Orange County Register titled State Senate approves diluted version of plastic-straw ban in California. Photo of a beach cleanup tarp filled with discarded plastic straws. Article reads Efforts to eliminate single-use plastic straws gained momentum when the state Senate, in a party-line vote Monday, approved a bill that would ban full-service restaurants from providing the straws unless specifically requested by the customer.  While many environmentalists applauded the move, it stopped short of local laws approved by several coastal cities and counties that established outright bans on single-use plastic straws for all restaurants and food vendors.  The state bill, which originally would have applied to all restaurants, was amended to exclude fast-food restaurants because of some critics’ concern that customers planning to drink their soda while driving shouldn’t have to ask for a straw.  “To me, the point on the straws-on-request (bill) is to start the movement,” said Dan Jacobson, a Sacramento lobbyist for Environment California, noting that environmental efforts are often dependent on incremental progress. “Straws-on-request makes a dent in a huge problem and, even more importantly, it educates, changes, behavior and continues a pattern of change.” The measure was passed 27-12. All Democrats backed the bill. The only Republican to support it was Sen. Pat Bates, R-Laguna Niguel. Neither Bates nor Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, participated in the initial vote but subsequently registered “Yes” votes. Rep. Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto, did not cast a vote and the remaining Republicans in the Senate opposed it.  The Assembly, which previously approved the bill 49-25, is expected to approve the Senate’s amended version. The measure would then need Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature to become law, which would take effect Jan. 1.