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U.S. NEWS Monday 1 april 2019

Manhattan tolls, plastic bag ban approved in New York budget

Continued from Front charging 5 cents for paper $12. Cuomo said without the Metropolitan Transpor- also establishes a state
bags, with 2 cents going to the tolls, either the subways tation Authority include a commission that will come
Other agreements in the local governments and 3 could continue to dete- reorganization plan and up with a system for public
budget include the closure cents to the state’s Environ- riorate or fares for subways other reforms Cuomo has financing of legislative and
of up to three yet-to-be- mental Protection Fund. and city buses would have demanded for the agency statewide offices, with up
determined state prisons, New York would be just the had to go up 30 percent. that runs the city’s buses, to $100 million in taxpayer
eliminating cash bail for third state with a statewide “That was the choice,” he subways and commuter funds authorized annually
misdemeanor and non-vi- ban. California’s ban has said of the toll. “You need a trains. for such a system.
olent felony arrests, a per- been in place since 2016. viable mass transit system.” In addition to eliminating Cuomo and legislative
manent, annual 2 percent All of Hawaii’s counties ban The state budget also will cash bail for some charg- leaders also agreed to leg-
cap on local property tax- plastic bags but it’s not a include two other dedicat- es, other criminal justice islation that would allow
es, and another $1 billion state-mandated ban. ed revenue sources for the reforms include requiring three hours of paid time off
for public education. “The convenience of plas- subways: a “mansion tax” prosecutors and defense for New Yorkers to vote on
“This budget is probably the tic bags is simply not worth on Manhattan homes that lawyers to share all case in- Election Day and expand
strongest progressive state- the environmental im- sell for $25 million or higher, formation well in advance voting hours upstate in pri-
ment that we’ve made,” pact,” said Carl Heastie, D- and an internet sales tax of trials, and speeding up mary elections to begin at
Cuomo told reporters Sun- Yonkers. “By reducing our levied on retailers who sell the time it takes for a case 6 a.m. instead of noon to
day as lawmakers worked state’s usage, we will see merchandise online. to go to trial. match general election
through hours of debate less litter in our communities The funding streams for The budget agreement hours.o
and voting on the budget. and less plastic pollution in
“If you have big problems, our waterways.”
it calls for big solutions.” Major issues that didn’t
In an agreement reached make it into the spending
earlier last week but not plan include legalization
officially announced un- of recreational marijuana.
til Sunday, most single-use Cuomo and legislative
plastic bags provided by leaders have said the issue
supermarkets and oth- was too complex to rush
er stores will be banned into the budget. Instead, it
statewide starting March could be handled in sepa-
1, 2020. Individual coun- rate legislation worked out
ties will have the option of over the last three months
of the legislative session,
scheduled to end June 19.
The Manhattan tolls plan
known as congestion pric-
ing will be the first of its kind
in the nation. State lead-
ers said a review board will
determine the toll amount,
exemptions and credits for
drivers headed into the
borough’s central business
district. The billions the tolls
are expected to raise will
go toward fixing New York
City’s ailing mass transit sys-
tem, though a portion of
the revenue will go to the
Long Island Rail Road and
Metro-North
An earlier estimate had
put the toll amount for per-
sonal vehicles at nearly