VOTE EARLY: The Democratic Primary
Election is Tuesday, March 18, 2014. Early voting began March 3-15 at 51
Chicago sites. All sites are open Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. For more information call the Chicago Board of Elections at 312/269-7900.
RE-ELECT: State Representative Maria
Antonia “Toni” Berrios [D-39th District] is seeking re-election
in the March 18, 2014 Primary Democratic election. She is serving her sixth
term in the Illinois General Assembly as the 39th District State
Representative. Her district, on the North side of Chicago, includes parts of
the Avondale, Belmont, Cragin, Hermosa, Logan Square and Portage Park
neighborhoods.
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| Center: State Rep. Toni Berrios surrounded by friends. |
REPRESENTATIVE
TONI BERRIOS continues
to serve as a full-time legislator with a proven record of advocating for
issues that are important to the residents of the 39th District. Representative
Berrios is very aware and involved with education issues in Illinois. She has
fought for many after school programs and for better wages for teachers. She
has worked hard on House Bill 3872, H.B. 3027, H.B. 3718 and H.B.
4420.
REPRESENTATIVE Berrios
co-sponsored House Bill 3872, which
was initiated by a mother whose special needs child was abused and assaulted by
his bus driver and aide. In an attempt to prevent this horrific incidence from
reoccurring and find liability of those responsible, HB3872 will require
recording devices, both visual and audio, on public school buses that transport
special needs children. This bill will protect children.
REP. BERRIOS supported the
efforts of protecting the health of adolescents provided by HB 3027. This bill requires that if a
public school offers sexual health education in grades 6-12, then the curriculum
must be medically-accurate and age-appropriate. She also sponsored the Minimum
Wage Law, House Bill 3718, which
would raise the minimum wage for workers across the state this year. “It is a
disservice to our society when thousands of workers are working full-time
hours, are still living below the poverty line,” said Berrios. If passed, the
proposed bill will steadily increase the minimum wage incrementally to $9.25
per hour on October 1, 2014, $10 per hour on July 1, 2015, and $10.65 per hour
on July 1, 2016.
STATE REP. “Toni” Berrios
filed legislation House Bill 4420 allowing
all workers to access paid sick days. The law would require employers with 20
or more employees to offer paid sick time to their employees regardless of
their full-time or part-time work status. This legislation proposes that for
every 40 hours an employee works, their employer must grant them a minimum of
one hour of paid sick time, with a minimum of 2 sick days per calendar year.
ENDORSEMENTS:
Rep. Berrios is endorsed by the Democratic Party, State AFL-CIO, Hispanic
American Labor Council. Give Maria
Antonia “Toni” Berrios your VOTE!
LV COMMUNITY MEETING: A Little
Village Community meeting was held Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014 at Epiphany Church
hall. More than 100 residents of Little Village attended the meeting, which was
hosted by the Little Village Community Council and H.O.P.E.
THIS WAS the fifth [5th]
Little Village community meeting that Ald. Ricardo
Munoz [22nd Ward] has missed. Munoz has been invited to speak on
the Public Housing Project on 26th St. & Kostner Ave. which he
wants to build. Not only does Munoz refuse to attend the community meetings; but
he fails to give a reason why he won’t attend the meetings.
A DOZEN speakers at the
Epiphany meeting expressed their complaints against Ald. Munoz. The complaints
range from not answering
phone calls, never in his office, ignores the needs of the residents, to being
inaccessible and difficult to get an appointment with. “We have to vote him out of office,” said a resident. The people
cheered. The residents in Little Village opposed the public housing project.
MUNOZ’S PUBLIC housing is of no benefit to the Little Village
neighborhood. The following is what Little Village needs on 26th St.
and Kostner Ave.:
[1] Youth
Center.
[2] Senior
Social Club.
[3] State of the
Art park.
[4] Soccer
Field.
[5] Mexican
Cultural Center.
[6] Mexican
Museum
[7] Military Museum
[8] Vocational
Trade School
[9] Strip
Mall with retail stores or service establishments.
[10] Cinema
Theater
ANOTHER COMMUNITY meeting is
being planned in Little Village for the month of March. Click
on YouTube: Stop LV Public Housing
Project.
