By Travis DeNeal 19

Illinois Democratic candidate for governor John Schmidt told an SIUC crowd of about 40 Friday that he is the only gubernatorial candidate willing to give specific solutions to Illinois problems.

Schmidt, appearing in the Student Center as a guest of the College Democrats, outlined his plans to improve Illinois public schools, reform the prison system, increase child support enforcement and initiate stricter gun control laws.

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Schmidt said Illinois needs to allocate more of its revenue from income taxes and use less from property taxes to fund Illinois schools.

We have to do it, Schmidt said. We rely too much on property taxes to fund education.

Schools also need to be more accountable for the education they provide, he said to the crowd, who broke out in applause.

We need to measure the outcome of students against a performance benchmark, because we have schools that consistently fail to make progress, he said.

Schmidt criticized the Illinois prison system, which he says is a safe haven from which gang leaders can run their businesses. Gang leaders should be isolated from the general prison population and be denied all privileges, he said.

Citing Illinois’ bottom rank among all states for enforcement of child support payments, Schmidt also said that if elected, he will support tougher laws against parents negligent in paying child support.

Collecting child support is not rocket science, he said. We need a statewide computer network with the names of all who owe child support so we can track payments.

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We also need to be revoking the state licenses of anyone negligent on child care payments.

Schmidt also cited concern for loopholes in gun control laws in Illinois. Handgun buyers in all states must undergo a three-day waiting period before acquiring a handgun, and Illinoisans must wait one day before acquiring other firearms from licensed dealers.

However, private individuals can sell guns legally without requiring background checks at gun shows a practice Schmidt said he will fight to eliminate.

When asked about negative campaigning against his other Democratic competitors, Schmidt said he wants to refrain from using such measures.

I’m not willing to talk negatively about the other candidates, he said. I don’t need to in order to win, and if I had to, I still wouldn’t do it.

Schmidt joins retired U.S. Attorney Jim Burns, former Attorney General Roland Burris and U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard, D-Ill., in the quest for the Democratic nomination. Schmidt is the first to appear at SIUC in a campaign capacity and plans to schedule more meetings with students and area residents in coming months.

Schmidt said he supports keeping student trustee elections in the hands of students, and giving students a binding vote on boards of trustees.

In July, Gov. Jim Edgar issued an amendatory veto of a bill that would give student trustees a binding vote in board of trustee decisions. The veto maintains a binding vote for students but calls for a committee to elect student trustees rather than popular elections.

Schmidt, 53, is a former associate U.S. attorney general, who implemented the Motor-Voter Law to boost voter registration. He served as chief negotiator in 1994 world trade talks and has taught at Northwestern University Law School.

Some SIUC students who attended the rally say they will support Schmidt avidly.

Bob Enger, president of College Democrats, said Schmidt’s positions on issues are similar to his own.

He has a lot of the same values I have, Enger, a junior in radio and television from Gurnee, said.

Jeremy Cahnmann, a junior in education from Carbondale, said he will now support Schmidt in his bid for governor.

I definitely was not a Schmidt supporter when I walked in, but now I will definitely be working for him in the primary, and hopefully the general election. I respect to no end that he is not willing to use dirty politics to win.