2 Beer tax to fund
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 24, 2019
alcoholic recovery
BY BILL PARRY
A Queens lawmaker
wants to raise taxes
on alcohol in order to
help alcoholics.
State Assemblyman
Michael DenDekker, who
has often advocated for
increased services to combat
alcohol addiction, introduced
legislation that
would create a new Alcohol
Addiction Prevention
and Recovery Fund, which
would be used exclusively
for the purpose of financing
alcohol addiction
recovery programs and
alcoholism education programs,
and would act as
a supplement to existing
funds intended for alcohol
addiction prevention
and recovery.
“Patients addicted to
opioids. Cocaine, and other
mind-altering substances
began their history of substance
abuse with alcohol
because it is the most easily
obtainable and socially
acceptable drug Americans
are exposed to,”
DenDekker said. “Alcohol
is the number one gateway
drug and any serious initiative
that aims to curb
the effects of substance
abuse must place alcohol
use and addiction as a
top priority.”
Each year thousands of
Americans are killed by
drunk drivers; between
2012 and 2016 more than
1,600 New Yorkers died
in accidents involving
drunk or alcohol-impaired
driving, according to
the state Department of
Motor Vehicles.
Consumption of alcohol
preceded 55 percent of domestic
violence in the U.S.,
according to the World
Health Organization, and
51 percent of incarcerated
people with mental
health issues in state
prisons have a dependency
on alcohol, according
to the Bureau of
Justice Statistics.
“The need for increased
services is not being addressed,”
DenDekker said.
“New York State needs
more in-patient treatment
for uninsured and underinsured
individuals. As
well as transitional supportive
housing for those
recently discharged from
an in-patient facility for
alcohol abuse.”
The proposed increase
would amount to an additional
3 cent charge per
12-ounce can of beer, an
additional 2 cents per glass
of wine, with an additional
10 cents per shot of highalcohol
liquor.
“The slight increase
in the cost of an alcoholic
beverage from the
tax is negligible,”
DenDekker said.
The additional revenue
would total $260 million
per year and would
double the current budget
allocation to current
alcohol abuse treatment
and prevention programs
in New York State. Revenues
generated by the tax
would be used only to improve
or increase alcohol
addiction recovery and
prevention services.
“Hundreds of thousands
of New Yorker battle with
alcohol addiction, and it is
our duty to help them deal
with this menacing disease,”
DenDekker said.”It
is imperative that current
programs are expanded
and funded to aid in alcohol
addiction prevention
and recovery.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (second from r.) hosted a town hall meeting in Long Island City on March 16 about the 2020
Census. Photo via Twitter/@RepMaloney
‘Real challenges’ in Census
Experts stress importance of accurate count at LIC town hall
BY ANDREINA RODRIGUEZ
With the 2020 Census
on the horizon, Congresswoman
Carolyn B. Maloney
wants to inform people
about the importance of a
fair and accurate count.
Maloney, who represents
a portion of western
Queens and Manhattan,
held a town hall meeting
about the census on March
16 at the Variety Boys and
Girls Club of Queens in
Long Island City.
Participating in the
event were speakers
Melva Miller, executive
vice president of the Association
for a Better New
York; Natalia Aristizabal,
co-director of organizing
of Make the Road NY;
Paul Westrick, manager
of democracy policy of
New York Immigration
Coalition; Jorge Fanjul,
deputy director for the
Office of the Census for
New York City; Jeff Wice,
fellow of Rockefeller Institute
of Government; and
Jeff Behler, northeast regional
director of the U.S.
Census Bureau.
The Census is not just
a mere headcount of those
residing in the United
States; it also plays a big
role in funding for the
community. Census numbers
also tie into representation,
as population
statistics are used to determine
the number of
Congressional seats in a
state, and factors into reapportionment
of Assembly,
state Senate and City
Council seats.
Ten years ago, during
the last census, New York
faced the issue of an undercount
from the result
of Queens and Brooklyn.
Because of this, New York
lost out on funding and
political power due to an
inaccurate count; it also
cost New York state two
seats in the House of Representatives.
“Queens faces some
real challenges in getting
a full count. There
are areas in Queens that
are among the hardest
to count in the country,”
Westrick said. “We know
from studying in previous
Census efforts that
any one of those things
makes it difficult to get a
full count.”
Behler explained that
many people refuse to
give out their information
on surveys, fearing that it
will be misused for other
purposes. The Census only
relies on demographics,
along with relationship to
people listed, tenure and
operational questions.
He aimed to assure everyone
that the Census
messaging is safe, easy
and important.
“Title 13 of federal law
protects every piece of
data that we collect. We
cannot, by law, identify
an individual, nor household,
nor can any information
collected by the
Census be used to harm
an individual,” he said.
“Homeland security, immigration
services, FBI,
CIA, no one can access
our data.”
Further complicating
the count is a proposed
citizenship question that
the Trump administration
wants to include
in the 2020 Census, and
is being disputed in
federal court.
Maloney fears that
the question can result
in an undercount of residents
in the city as there
are many undocumented
families present.
Wice added that a large
chunk of the western
Queens population is comprised
of undocumented,
foreign-born individuals,
including 24 percent of
the population of Maloney’s
12th District and 35
percent of the population
in neighboring Elmhurst
and Corona.
“If you hear about the
citizenship question and
whether people respond
to it or not and you look
at the whole northwest
corner of Queens county,
those are serious numbers
people might not respond
to the Census — which
could mean you’re not going
to see a shrinkage of
the size of the assembly or
senate but a movement of
where those districts are,”
Wice explained.
The decision will be
announced on June 6 and
the hearing will occur on
April 23. Maloney encourages
those to write to Supreme
Court representing
their districts and organizations
and ask for a ticket
to attend and listen to the
important decision.
State Assemblyman Michael
DenDekker
Courtesy DenDekker’s office