Maria Antonia "Toni" Berrios (born April 24, 1977) is an American politician and former Democratic member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

, where she represented the 39th District from 2003 to 2015. She was the first

Puerto Rican American Stateside Puerto Ricans (), also ambiguously known as Puerto Rican Americans (, ), or Puerto Ricans in the United States, are Puerto Ricans who reside in the mainland United States. Pursuant to the Jones–Shafroth Act, all Puerto Ricans bo ...

woman to serve in the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

House. Berrios is the daughter of

Joseph Berrios Joseph "Joe" Berrios (born February 14, 1952) is an American Democratic politician who was the Assessor and Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party of Cook County, Illinois, as well as a registered Illinois state government lobbyist. H ...

, who was formerly a member of the Illinois House of Representatives,

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Assessor, and chairman of the

Cook County Democratic Party The Cook County Democratic Party is an American county-level political party organization which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and ...

Early life, education and career

Berrios is the daughter of politician and

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

, former Cook County Assessor, former chairman of the Democratic Party of Cook County, and formerly a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and a Commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review, a property tax appeal panel. Berrios graduated from

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. NEIU serves approximately 5,000 students in the region and is both a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution and Asian American and Nat ...

with a Board of Governor's Degree, a non-traditional degree. Berrios held a life insurance agent license which expired in June, 2012 and has been inactive since June, 2013. Berrios worked for the Illinois Liquor Control Commission as a tobacco compliance specialist. She also worked for the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.

Illinois House of Representatives

The 39th District of the Illinois House of Representatives was newly created in the 2001 redistricting after the 2000 census to encourage additional Hispanic representation. The district is on Chicago's Northwest Side and includes parts of the Avondale,

Belmont Cragin Belmont Cragin is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located on the Northwest Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is designated Community Area 19, and is located NW of the Loop. Surrounding community areas include: ...

, Hermosa, Logan Square, and Portage Park neighborhoods. At age 25 and newly graduated from college, Berrios ran unopposed in the 2002 primary and general elections. Berrios was the first Puerto Rican American woman to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives. Berrios'

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

, Citizens for Maria A. Berrios, has received campaign contributions from many of the same property tax appeal law firms that contribute to the multiple campaign funds controlled by her father, Joseph Berrios, who is the Cook County Assessor and a former Commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review. Berrios' political campaign committee has received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from the campaign fund controlled by Michael J. Madigan, the Speaker of the Illinois House and chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. In October, 2010, Berrios' campaign committee contributed $50,000 to her father's campaign for Assessor. Berrios has been a member of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation since its founding in 2004. In forming the Foundation, each of the Hispanic Representatives in the Illinois House selected a member of its board of directors, and Berrios selected lobbyist Alfred Ronan of Ronan Potts LLC. For two years, the group failed to register and file financial reports with the State of Illinois and was fined. Ronan Potts LLC paid a $350,000 fine after admitted to a multimillion-dollar bid-rigging scheme in the expansion of

McCormick Place McCormick Place is a convention center in Chicago. It is the largest convention center in North America. It consists of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about south of the Chicago ...

. Berrios chairs the Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs, a national organization of Hispanic legislative caucus leadership from 12 U. S. states and territories. On February 14, 2013,

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

Bill SB10, the "Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act," legalizing

same-sex marriage in Illinois Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Illinois since a law signed by Governor Pat Quinn on November 20, 2013 took effect on June 1, 2014. Same-sex marriage legislation was introduced in successive sessions of the Illinois General Asse ...

, passed the Illinois Senate, was introduced into the Illinois House, and had its first reading in the Illinois House. On March 12, 2013 Berrios was added as an Alternate Co-Sponsor of SB10 in the

. She was one of 24 Representatives to sign on as Chief Sponsor, Alternate Chief Co-sponsor, or Alternate Co-Sponsor, and one of 19 Alternate Co-Sponsors, in the Illinois House. The Illinois House passed SB10 and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill into law in November, 2013. In the Illinois House, Berrios chaired the Financial Institutions committee and was a member of the Executive, Insurance, International Trade and Commerce, Mass Transit, Tollway Oversight, Tourism and Conventions, and Biotechnology committees. Berrios conceded defeat in the March 18, 2014 primary election in which she sought re-election to a seventh term. ''

Capitol Fax Capitol Fax is a daily political newsletter covering Illinois politics. It was founded in 1993 by Rich Miller. Background Capitol Fax, Inc., based in Springfield, Illinois, was founded in 1993 by Rich Miller. Miller is the lead writer, editor an ...

'' editor Rich Miller called the primary "the ugliest race in Illinois."

Personal life

Berrios is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of Chicago. She is on the Board of Directors of Tabula Rasa, a proposed transitional living program to address serial incarceration of male high school and college students.

References

External links

Citizens for Maria A. Berrios
website of an Illinois

*

at Illinois House Democrats, a website of the Democratic Party of Illinois
Toni Berrios
archive in the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

''
Toni Berrios
archive in ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Berrios, Maria Antonia Members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1977 births Living people Northeastern Illinois University alumni American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Women state legislators in Illinois 21st-century American women politicians Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Illinois Hispanic and Latino American women in politics 21st-century members of the Illinois General Assembly