With the Democratic primary March 17, campaigns are in full swing and the question of campaign financing and the need for its reform must be addressed, experts say.

The costs of campaigns have significantly increased in recent years, so much that popular opinion reflects the belief that money has impaired the strength and functionality of the government.

Money has overwhelmed our system, said U.S. Rep. and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Glenn Poshard. I have seen it with my own eyes in my 14 years of public service. Money has undermined our government.

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The issue of campaign finance reform has received much attention in recent years and is a hot topic in the 1998 gubernatorial election.

Right now campaign finance reform is one of the most urgent problems facing our government, Poshard said. We have to step out and do something about it, not just talk about it.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Schmidt said he strongly supports comprehensive campaign finance reform.

He said he thinks there should be limits on contributions and better disclosure of contributions. He said he has supported total disclosure of campaign finances.

I have said I would like to move toward public financing, but we need to start with working on disclosure and spending limits first, Schmidt said I consider campaign finance reform a major priority and intend to propose legislation.

Schmidt said he would like to require television and radio stations to sell time at a reduced rate or offer free time.

Roughly half of Schmidt’s campaign funds come from individual contributions. About one or two percent come from political action committees and the remainder is from loans guaranteed by Schmidt and his brother.

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John Sullivan, press secretary for democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Burns, said Burns favors limits on spending and contributions.

If elected, Burns would like to pass legislation reforming campaign finance. He wants to require all those who bid on state contracts to publicly disclose any campaign contributions.

Burns wants to let the people know if someone is getting an insider deal, Sullivan said.

Burns would like to see a ban on campaign funds for personal use and would like to eliminate bundling. Bundling is when a corporation does not want the public to know it is making campaign contributions so it will have employees make donations and send the checks together. Burns wants to require all campaign contributors to identify their employer and occupation.

He also wants to limit candidates to a single campaign fund.

Dave Urbanek, press secretary for Secretary of State and Republican gubernatorial candidate George Ryan, said his candidate believes in absolute disclosure of every penny donated and spent.

Secretary Ryan feels that every dime a candidate has should be open to public scrutiny, Urbanek said.

Urbanek said Ryan has no plans to enact any laws regarding campaign finance if elected to the governor’s office.

Poshard said he does not take PAC or special interest contributions and limits individual contributions to $2,000 or less.

Poshard made a small loan of $150,000 to his campaign and has received a number of contributions from county candidates. The vast majority of his $1.5 million campaign has come from about 700,000 individual contributions, averaging $180 each.

I have adopted the Simon-Stratton report entirely, only I have taken it one step farther by not accepting any PAC or special interest contributions, Poshard said. I have adopted it, implemented it and live by it.

Many of the other candidates say they have adopted it, but do not practice it.

The Simon-Stratton report was written by former Sen. Paul Simon and former Gov. William Stratton. It is a report of the Illinois Campaign Finance Task Force, which was organized early in 1995 as part of the Illinois Campaign Finance Project. Stratton and Simon served as co-chairmen of the project.

The research of the report was prepared by the staff of the Illinois Campaign Finance Project. The principal investigator and researcher was Kent Redfield of the University of Illinois at Springfield. Redfield prepared a comprehensive database of 1994 election campaign contributions and expenditures.

The report summarized the task force’s 19 recommendations for Illinois’ campaign finance reform in 10 guiding principles.

All of the candidates support one form of reform or another, but the extremity with which they support it differs. Most agree that reform is an important issue in this election and must be addressed.

If the people deserve anything, it is equal access to public office, Poshard said. Some people must be willing to step out and take the risk.

The office of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Roland Burris did not return phone calls from the Daily Egyptian for comment.