PBS高端访谈:成千上万人加薪 众多法律今年出台

William Brangham: But first, millions of Americans across the country got a pay raise starting today. Lisa Desjardins reviews some of the many new state laws that just went into effect.

Lisa Desjardins: The changes impact big policy areas, from minimum wage increases to immigration and the legalization of marijuana in California, the nation's largest state. In some cases, states are acting¹ where the federal government cannot or will not. Reid Wilson is a reporter at The Hill newspaper. Let's start with a map about these minimum wage increases. In effect today, 18 states are raising their minimum wage. And, right now, of course, the federal minimum wage is $7.25. So, how significant are these increases?

Reid Wilson: Well, in some states, they're very significant.

Mainers are going to see a minimum wage increase of a full dollar per hour. In a state like Washington state, the minimum wage is going up by 50 cents. In some other states, not so significant. Alaska's minimum wage goes up just 4 cents today.

But across the board, we're seeing action in those states where the federal government has not changed the minimum wage in a couple of decades now. And the fact is, there are a lot of progressive sort of union groups and pro-labor organizations that are using ballot² measures to push the minimum wage to $11.50 in Washington state, which is now the highest in the country.

In a couple of years, that will ratchet up to $13.50. And even in some of Washington's cities, in Seattle, in SeaTac, Washington, the minimum wage is now north of $15 an hour.

Lisa Desjardins: And a dollar increase in wage is a really significant in salary.

Reid Wilson: Right. That would be an increase of about $2,000 a year for the lowest-wage workers. That's pretty significant for somebody who is making about $20,000 a year.

Lisa Desjardins: From a national trend, let's talk about a state that is trying to set trends, California.

They are moving leftward in a couple of areas, one, recreational marijuana. Starting today, you can use and buy small amounts of marijuana, with some limits like other states have.

But California is a massive state and economy. Is this going to change sort of drug policy, the drug marketplace?

Reid Wilson: Well, it could change a little bit in Congress, because there are a significant number of Republicans in specifically marijuana legalization states. California is now the sixth state in which marijuana is legal for recreational purposes.

There are a number of Republicans who are trying to push the federal government to leave these states alone. Even if you're anti-marijuana, even if you're a conservative Republican, you don't want the federal Justice Department suing your state over something that your voters chose. That's not a great way to do public policy. That's not a great way to get reelected.

So, I think, in — as more states move towards legalization, we're going to start to see some changing attitudes in Congress, not necessarily a pro-legalization attitude change, but just a hands-off, let's let the states do what they want.

Lisa Desjardins: California is also making a very big policy statement on immigration, the state now calling itself, as of today, a sanctuary³ state. What does that mean?

Reid Wilson: So, California has passed a law that will prohibit state law enforcement agencies from liaising with the federal immigration authorities in some senses.

If there is somebody who is arrested and charged with a very serious crime — there's a list of about 60 crimes that they could qualify for — yes, the California law enforcement can hand that person over for deportation⁵ at the end of his or her sentence.

But just an average — say, a traffic stop or something like that, if the feds ask for a detainer request — or submit a detainer request, California law enforcement will not necessarily honor that.

Lisa Desjardins: Yes, and I understood that now some desks at workplaces that ICE has in local sheriff's departments, they're now being asked to leave.

Reid Wilson: Right. And this is part of a larger movement that we're seeing in liberal states and mostly larger cities that are trying to build a relationship between local police departments and immigrant communities. That relationship, they say, helps reduce crime.

Federal authorities want to effectively find ways to deport⁴ those who are in the country illegally. It's a tenuous⁶ sort of triangle there, but it's one that local law enforcement agencies are increasingly asserting their rights over.

Lisa Desjardins: Obviously, a lot of politics there, too. Let's end on a fun note. There's always these thousands of new laws every January 1, always some oddball ones. Do you have a favorite?

Reid Wilson: Right. So there are a couple. There are about 40,000 new laws taking effect on January 1. In Illinois, August 4, from now on, will be known as Barack Obama Day. It's not a state holiday, but it's something they're going to observe.

Lisa Desjardins: Considered his home state.

Reid Wilson: Right, of course.

Lisa Desjardins: Well, thank you. Happy new year. Thank you for joining us, Reid Wilson from The Hill.

Reid Wilson: You got it.

威廉·布朗汉姆：首先，从今日起，全美数百万人将迎来加薪。丽莎·德贾斯丁回顾了一些刚刚生效的新州立法律。

丽莎·德贾斯丁：从提高最低工资标准、修改移民法案到美国最大州加利福尼亚州大麻使用合法化，这些变革对各政策领域均产生了巨大影响。在某些情况下，各州政府在联邦政府不能或不愿采取行动的地方采取了行动。里德·威尔逊是国会山报的记者。让我们从提高最低工资标准说起。从今日起，美国18个州均提高了最低工资标准。当然，现在联邦政府规定的最低工资是7.25美元。那么，此次涨薪意义几何呢？

里德·威尔逊：嗯，在一些州，涨薪的确意义重大。在缅因州，工人的最低时薪提高了整整一美元。而像华盛顿这样的州，最低工资上涨了50美分。在另外一些州，工资涨幅没那么明显。阿拉斯加州的最低工资今天只涨了4美分。但总的来说，在联邦政府在几十年都没有涨工资的地方，最低工资都有所增长。事实上，在华盛顿州，有很多进步的工会组织和劳工组织，他们积极采用投票选举等措施，把最低工资推到了目前全国最高的11.50美元。再过几年，薪水将达到13.50美元。甚至在华盛顿州的一些城市，在西雅图，锡塔克，华盛顿，最低工资现在都至少达到15美元一小时。

丽莎·德贾斯丁：增加一美元工资真的是非常重要。

里德·威尔逊：对。这将使最低工资工人每年增加收入约2000美元。这对一个年收入约20000美元的人来说的确意义重大。

丽莎·德贾斯丁：从国家趋势来看，我们要讨论一下试图引领国家趋势的加利福尼亚州。有几个政策领域，他们太亲左了，其中一个就是消遣用大麻。从今开始，你可以使用购买少量大麻，不过像其他州一样，这里也有一些限制。但加利福尼亚幅员辽阔，经济实力雄厚。这会对毒品政策，毒品市场有影响吗？

里德·威尔逊：嗯，这在国会中，可能会掀起小的波澜，因为国会中有很大一批来自大麻合法化州的共和党人。现在，加利福尼亚是第六个将消遣用大麻合法化的州。有一些共和党人正试图迫使联邦政府孤立这些州，弃之不理。即便你反对使用大麻，即便你是保守的共和党人，你也不会想让联邦司法部门因为你的选民所支持的事情而起诉你所在的州。这对宣传公共政策和再次当选都毫无裨益。因此，我认为，随着越来越多的州趋向支持大麻合法化，国会中一些人的态度肯定会转变，他们未必赞成合法化，但可能会松松手，就随各州去吧。

丽莎·德贾斯丁：加利福尼亚也就移民问题做出了重大声明，该州现称自己为庇护州。这怎么讲？

里德·威尔逊：那么，加利福尼亚通过了一项法律，禁止州执法机构与联邦移民当局存在任何意义上的联系。如果有人被逮捕并被指控犯有清单中所列的60项重罪之一，加利福尼亚执法部门可以在他或她刑期结束时将此人移送出境。但一般来说，如果出现交通中断之类的情况，如果联邦政府要求扣押或提交扣押请求，加利福尼亚执法部门未必遵照履行。

丽莎·德贾斯丁：是的，我了解到现在美国移民和海关执法局在地方警署中设立的一些职能部门，现在已被要求解散。

里德·威尔逊：对。这些运动一些崇尚自由的州和全国主要大城市中，还会愈演愈烈。它们正努力在地方警察部门和移民社区之间建立联系。他们说，这种关系有助于降低犯罪率。联邦当局希望找到可以有效驱逐非法入境移民的方法。这种三角关系十分脆弱，但地方执法机构越来越想在这方面声张自己的权利。

丽莎·德贾斯丁：很明显，这也是复杂的政治学。最后，我们来说一个有趣的事儿吧。每逢元旦，新法律总有千千万，还有些总是古里古怪。有你最喜欢的吗？

里德·威尔逊：有。有几个。1月1日，将近40,000条新法律出台。从现在起，伊利诺斯州每年的8月4日被定为巴拉克·奥巴马日。它算不上州定假日，但也是伊利诺斯人打算庆祝的日子。

丽莎·德贾斯丁：因为奥巴马来自伊利诺斯州。

里德·威尔逊：对，当然。

丽莎·德贾斯丁：好的，谢谢你！新年快乐！谢谢你参加本次访谈，国会山报记者里德·威尔逊。

里德·威尔逊：客气了。

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

3 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

4 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

5 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

6 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。