Journalist: Shelby Tannehill (OSU)
One of the liveliest bills on the senate floor this afternoon was OU-002, authored by
Senators Diaz (OU) and Fraire (OU). In author’s explanation, Senator Diaz (OU) began with a
cautionary tale on spiked drinks. The “Lid It or Leave It” Act of 2025 seeks to set a new law
requiring establishments that sell alcohol to also provide drink covers. Amended, the bill passed
the senate.
The bill was immediately met with questions, most pertaining to the cost, violation
protocol, and possible caveats. Sen. Maxwell questioned why the bill only included alcoholic
beverages, to which Sen. Diaz explained the bill was reliant on the licenses held by the
establishment. Later on, Sen. Maxwell would ask if Sen. Diaz was open to a possible amendment
to open it to all beverages, and Sen. Diaz would accept. “I would be open to that, if you feel like
there’s better wording,” Diaz said.
Section three would codify into law that all establishments in Oklahoma that sell alcohol
must provide an option to purchase a cup cover, designated as a sleeve, lid, or wrap, for their
cup. This bill was inspired by legislation in California. “I saw the California legislation on
TikTok and people really appreciated it,” Sen. Diaz said. “I thought it was great, but it was more
complicated than I thought.” Initially, there was a sub-subsection stating that businesses couldn’t
apply mark-ups over 50% on cup covers, though this was removed via an amendment before the
bill was voted on.
This amendment was proposed by Senator Hayes (OSU) and seconded by Senator Plane
(TU). Sen. Hayes argued that if companies were hindered by a lack of profit, they would seek
alternate methods to keep from complying. The proposed amendment to strike sub-subsection A
was initially heavily questioned, but was ultimately passed by a majority standing vote.
OU-002 as amended passed the senate with 15 yeas, zero nays and 6 abstentions.
Currently, this bill still must be heard and passed by the House of Representatives before it can
be seen by the governor.