No consensus on loan money

Three months after Gov. Matt Blunt announced his intention to sell Missouri's student loan authority, members of the Missouri General Assembly still have not reached a consensus about how the money from the sale should be spent.

By Jedd Rosche

Published April 11, 2006

Three months after Gov. Matt Blunt announced his intention to sell Missouri's student loan authority, members of the Missouri General Assembly still have not reached a consensus as to how the money from the sale should be spent.

House Speaker Pro Tem Carl Bearden, R-St. Charles, said both houses of the General Assembly have not yet decided how money from the sale of some of the loan authority's assets should be used.

"The House doesn't have any bills regarding a MOHELA spending plan as of yet," Bearden said. "We're still working on it."

Bearden said that once House Republicans agreed on a bill outlining the use of the money, it would be sent to the House budget committee.

Bearden also said that though the House, Senate and governor eventually would have to come to a consensus, he expected the bill to be finished before the General Assembly session ends in May.

Bearden said legislators still are discussing a range of options for the money.

"There's been a lot of discussion on capital projects," Bearden said. "The Senate has a health component under development. The House has scholarship and debt components, which they are trying to work into the plan."

In February, Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, proposed a bill that would ensure that revenue from the loan authority sale could be used only for "student loans, scholarships, endowed professorships and capital projects." The Senate education committee has not voted on the bill.

Graham was unavailable for comment on Thursday.

Jessica Robinson, a spokeswoman for Blunt, said the governor did not support Graham's bill because the laws it enforced are already in place.

"State law grants MOHELA authority to conduct its business as it deems necessary," Robinson said. "Nothing in state law prohibits MOHELA from making voluntary cash gifts to the state."

Robinson said in the past, the loan authority has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to higher education.

UM system spokesman Joe Moore also said the UM system agreed with the governor's plan because of how it focused on funding capital building projects.

"We are very supportive of the governor's proposal," Moore said. "Money for buildings is a key issue for us and all of higher education."

Moore said that the UM system had been monitoring the developments in the General Assembly.

"The Senate's version was very in line with the governor's strategy to fund projects that would spur Missouri economic development," Moore said.

Blunt's original plan for the money generated by the sale would have funded about $450 million for construction at schools across the state.

It would have funded a $150 million medical research center at MU.