New York lawmakers began cementing their hard-fought budget by approving a ban on single-use plastic bags. As a midnight Sunday deadline neared, the state’s Democratic machinery had yet to pass two more contentious items: a “mansion tax” and congestion pricing for parts of Manhattan. The state becomes only the second, along with California, to ban disposable plastic grocery bags, forcing residents to pay for paper bags or re-use their own on grocery store visits, starting March 2020. The measure is intended to reduce the 71,000 tons in plastic bags used annually just in New York City, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.
“This is the broadest most sweeping state plan that we have done, there are a number of national firsts and it really grapples with the tough issues that have been facing the state for a long time,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters in Albany on Sunday. Cuomo and state legislative leaders agreed earlier on a 2020 spending plan that keeps budget growth at 2 percent for the ninth year while boosting education aid and providing middle-class tax relief. Lawmakers continued working to turn the budget deal into law, though Albany tradition suggests the process might tip over into Monday.
Congestion Tolls
While well-established in London, New York would be the first in the U.S. city to charge drivers for access. Congestion pricing is projected to raise $1 billion, to be used to pay debt service on $15 billion in bonds for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subway.
Details of the program, such as how much to charge motorists and who might be exempted, remain to be hashed out by the MTA’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, with implementation slated to begin after Dec. 31, 2020. Electronic monitors will be placed on the perimeter of a midtown Manhattan zone south of 60th Street. In another measure to bolsterthe MTA, lawmakers are being asked to approve a progressive tax on mansions with a combined top rate of 4.15 percent on the sale of properties valued at $25 million or more.
Also part of the legislation is a criminal-justice package that includes elimination of cash bail for about 90 percent of defendants awaiting trial on misdemeanors and low-grade felony charges. What to do with those accused of the most serious crimes remains a question for more negotiation, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Friday.
纽约立法者开始通过批准使用一次性塑料袋的禁令来巩固他们艰难的预算。随着星期天午夜最后期限的临近，该州民主政府机关尚未通过另外两个更有争议的项目：“豪宅税”和曼哈顿部分地区的汽车交通拥堵费。从2020年3月开始，该州将成为和加州一样的第二个禁止使用一次性塑料袋的州。居民需通过支付只带费用或在购物时重复利用自己的塑料购物袋。据美国公民预算委员会称，这项举措旨在减少纽约市每年使用7.1万吨塑料袋。
“这是我们做过的最广泛、最全面的州计划，有许多全国首创，但它可以真正解决国家长期面临的棘手难题。”州长Andrew Cuomo周日在奥尔巴尼对记者表示。Cuomo和州立法领导者早些时候曾就2020年支出计划达成一致，该计划在增加教育经费、提供中产阶级税收减免的同时，将预算增长连续第九年保持在2%。立法者继续致力于将预算协议立法，不过据奥尔巴尼以往传统这一过程可能会周一结束。
交通拥堵费
虽通行费制度在伦敦很成熟，但纽约将是美国第一个向司机收取通行费的城市。交通拥堵费预计将筹集10亿美元，用于为运营该市地铁的纽约大都会交通局偿还150亿美元的债务。
该计划细节，如收费具体数额以及哪些人免缴，仍有待大都会交通局桥梁隧道管理局敲定。计划将于2020年12月31日后开始实施。电子监视器将被安置在曼哈顿中心区60街以南周边地区。在另一项支持大都会交通局的措施中，立法者被要求批准对豪宅征收累进税价值250万美元或以上的房产总税率为4.15%。
这项立法还包括刑事司法一揽子计划，其中包括取消约90%因轻罪和低级重罪指控而等待审判的被告的现金保释。大会发言人Carl Heastie周五表示，如何处理哪些被指控犯下最严重罪行的人仍然是一个有待进一步讨论的问题。
lawmaker 立法者
budget 预算
machinery （政府等的）机关，组织
contentious 引起争论的，有争论的
mansion 公馆，宅第
disposable 一次性的（disposable plastic bags 一次性塑料袋）
grapple 抓住，与…格斗
legislative立法的
Metropolitan Transportation Authority 大都会交通局，简称MTA，下文多次出现
exempt 使免除，豁免
hash out 具体讨论
implementation 成就，贯彻
perimeter 周围
bolster 支持支撑鼓励援助
elimination 排除，除去，淘汰
defendant 被告人
Lawmakers continued working to turn the budget deal into law, though Albany tradition suggests the process might tip over into Monday. “tip over” 原意翻倒，这些流程会被“翻倒”至周一，亦即将顺延至周一。
The state becomes only the second, along with California, to ban disposable plastic grocery bags, forcing residents to pay for paper bags or re-use their own on grocery store visits, starting March 2020. 1.“along with California”做句子插入语；2.“forcing…” “starting…”动名词做伴随状语。
本文被动语态较多：被动语态(passive voice)是动词的一种形式，用以说明主语与谓语动词之间的关系。英语的语态分主动语态和被动语态两种，主动语态表示主语是动作的执行者，被动语态表示主语是动作的承受者。被动语态是动词的一种特殊形式，一般来说，只有需要动作对象的及物动词才有被动语态。汉语往往用"被"、"受"、"给"等被动词来表示被动意义 。被动语态由“助动词be+及物动词的过去分词”构成。被动语态的时态变化只改变be的形式，过去分词部分不变。疑问式和否定式的变化也如此。
构成：
（1）助动词be+及物动词的过去分词、
（2）情态动词+be+及物动词的过去分词
被动语态常用于陈述事实，一般用在科技文章或新闻报道中。
本文被动语态举例：
Electronic monitors will be placed on the perimeter of a midtown Manhattan zone south of 60th Street. “will be placed on”为一般将来时的被动语态。
一般将来时被动语态：“shall (will) do”，被动变“do”为“be done”。即由“shall do”或“will do”变为“shall done”或“will be done”。
In another measure to bolster the MTA, lawmakers are being asked to approve a progressive tax on mansions with a combined top rate of 4.15 percent on the sale of properties valued at $25 million or more.“are being asked”为现在进行时的被动语态。
现在进行时或过去进行时都是“be”的形式+“doing”。而被动态则是“be”+ “being done”的形式，“being”是不变的。
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