Manhattan tolls, plastic bag ban approved in New York budget

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Drivers traveling into the busiest sections of Manhattan will be charged a toll starting in 2021 and single-use plastic bags will be banned across New York state next March under a new state budget agreement.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and fellow Democrats who control the legislature announced early Sunday they reached an agreement on a $175.5 billion state budget a day before the spending plan deadline.

Lawmakers plan to begin passing budget bills Sunday in an all-day session. The spending plan is for the 2019-2020 state fiscal year that starts Monday.

Agreed-to items in the budget include a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags, closing up to three yet-to-be-determined state prisons and congestion tolls for traffic below Manhattan’s 60st Street.

The legalization of recreational marijuana didn’t make it into the plan.