OntheWilderSide

Karpen Says Rep. ‘Toni’ Berrios Should Recuse Herself when Joe Berrios’ Bills Come to a Vote

This week, Rep. Berrios voted during committee and the House floor vote in favor of expanding the definition of video gambling venues to include truck stops and VFWs, and to lower the minimum bet to a penny. The legislation was strongly pushed by her father, lobbyist Joseph Berrios, now a candidate for Cook County Assessor, who counts the Illinois Coin Machine Operators Association as a client, one of the largest pro-gambling organizations in the state.

Jeremy Karpen, Green Party candidate for 39th District State Representative says:

This vote is highly troubling in our current economic climate. Every year it is more of the same. Last May, the Assembly sold us the Video Gaming Act as a ‘jobs bill’ in the eleventh hour. But when community after community rejected the machines, it seems they decided to make it even easier for low-income Illinoisans and veterans to shoulder a larger burden.

“To directly tie the funding of our social values to the proliferation of social vices is a terrible idea. The public is demanding fiscally sound economic solutions to meet our budget goals but instead Springfield keeps going back to borrowing and gambling. It is simply not good fiscal policy to capitalize on the false hope and desperation of families in crisis to make up for years of unbalanced budgets.”

Incumbent Toni Berrios receives thousands of dollars every election cycle from casinos, race tracks, and gambling interests. Her father, Democratic Assessor Candidate Joseph Berrios, is simultaneously chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, Commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review, and a paid lobbyist for the Illinois Coin Machine Operators Association. Berrios sits on the Executive Committee and votes on bills that potentially benefit her father’s clients, including the Video Gaming Act and this week’s trailer bill.

“Rep. Berrios clearly has a significant conflict of interest when it comes to gambling legislation, and I believe she should have recused herself,” says Karpen. “It is bad public policy and bad ethics to put family before your constituents.”

“If we are serious about moving this state forward and out the long shadow of corruption, then we need to elect new, principled, and independent voices that are willing to make the bold choices necessary to change our broken system, and bring real economic and social justice to the people in this community,” says Karpen.

Karpen ran for the same office in 2008, taking 21% of the vote despite being hugely outspent. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor, working as a therapist for troubled youth at a residential treatment center in Chicago. Karpen volunteers his time working against partner abuse and youth violence with a local domestic violence agency. He’s been a consistent and outspoken community activist fighting for housing, health care, equitable education funding, and immigrant rights.

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Jeremy Karpen for State Representative 39th District
3044 W. Fullerton Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 557-9411
campaign@jeremykarpen.org
www.jeremykarpen.org

Filed under: 3rd party, election, Election 2010, elections, grassroots democracy, Green Party, News Tagged: | Illinois