The Latest: Plastic bag ban gets approved in NY state budget
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Latest on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature agreeing to a plastic bag ban as part of the state budget agreement being voted on by lawmakers Sunday (all times local):
4:15 p.m.
The Democrat-controlled New York Legislature has passed legislation that will make the state the second in the nation to have a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags.
Lawmakers passed the measure Sunday afternoon, a little more than 12 hours after Cuomo and the fellow Democratic leaders announced an agreement on a $175.5 billion budget for the next fiscal year that begins Monday.
The legislation banning most plastic bags provided to customers at supermarkets and other retail businesses also allows counties to opt in on a 5-cent fee on paper bags.
California has had a statewide plastic bag ban since 2016. All of Hawaii’s counties ban plastic bags but it’s not a state-mandated ban.
New York lawmakers are also expected to approve tolls to drive into the busiest sections of Manhattan.
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12:46 p.m.
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.