When Berrios Lobbies Berrios, The House Always Wins

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.

“This vote is highly troubling in our current economic climate,” says
Jeremy Karpen, Green Party candidate for 39th District State
Representative. “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.