Kelly pushes measure for new engineering building

Bond money could make a new building a reality.

By Will Guldin

Published Sept. 29, 2009

On rainy days, the materials lab in Lafferre Hall sits empty. The room's ceiling, like many in the building, leaks, and rainwater drips over the casing of a 220-volt power line, making the engineering classroom potentially dangerous.

"We have to be very careful we don't have any shock or electrocution hazards here in this particular area," said Marty Walker, building coordinator and director of administrative services for the department of engineering.

That, and a series of other problems, is why Walker said he wants to replace the original building, which has been added onto nearly 10 times since its construction in 1892.

State Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, is sponsoring legislation that would allow the state to sell $700 million worth of bonds to pay for higher education projects. He has called on Gov. Jay Nixon to convene a special session of the legislature to pass it.

The bill, which was introduced during this year's session, made it through the House with bipartisan support. But it failed to come up for a vote in the Senate, where it was threatened with the chance of a filibuster, before the legislature dismissed in May. If Nixon calls a special session and the measure passes, the issue would come up for a general vote in April 2010, a year sooner than if it was passed during the next legislative season.

Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said the governor has not yet decided on a plan of action.

"On the bonding issue we believe there would have to be a consensus among the leaders of the legislature that this would be passed," he said.

State Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, who is a contestant for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said the governor's uncertainty about the funding shows now is not the time to spend this money.

"I'm wondering if financially if the governor thinks it isn't needed or if he is fearful of the bill he's going to have to pay for the state budget in the next few years," he said.

Rep. Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, co-sponsored the legislation and said he wants it to pass now because it deserves a chance to go before Missourians, and he said factors, such as low interest rates on bonds make it a reasonable bill.

"It's almost a perfect storm," Tilley said. "You can do projects you're probably going to do anyway, you can do them cheaper, and the federal government will pay a third of the interest. I think that all makes sense."

Although the rest of Lafferre Hall, also known as Engineering Building East, shows signs of age, Walker said the structural integrity of the structure is sound and things, such as roof leaks, can be tolerated.

"It's not something that we would condemn the building for as unsafe, but it all adds up," Walker said.

Professor Enos Inniss said though the structure was safe, the outdated labs are hurting engineering students.

"In some cases we don't have the space to provide them with all the experiences we would like to provide to them," he said.

One of his classes, Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering, has 60 students and he said it is hard to schedule lab time for each of his sections and a new building would provide more space and let students learn skills attractive to employers.

"We want them to have the ability to do a lot of hands-on learning," Inniss said. "So you need to have space that's not cramped that allows you to bring student groups in and be able to accomplish your teaching goals."

Associate Dean David Akers said these engineers would then contribute to Missouri's economy, making the $53 million needed for a new engineering building one of the most efficient uses of the state's funds.

"We will educate students who will stay in the Missouri area with wonderful gainful employment so they stay here in the state, they pay taxes and it's a wonderful way to grow the economy," he said.

Kelly said this legislation would also provide an immediate boost to the economy through job creation.

"There is nothing adopted by the General Assembly which would come close to the job development of a capital improvements bond," Kelly said. "It will produce way more jobs than anything else out there we've done recently. The economy is in bad shape, we need to do something about jobs and we need to do it now."

Support for this legislation is strong, but David Stokes, a policy analyst with the Show-Me Institute, a free-market think tank, said the question of whether to set aside this money should not be something taken lightly.

"The legislature shouldn't just pass this onto the people," he said. "If they believe the benefits outweigh the costs, then they should pass it, but this is something they should think carefully about."

Stokes said this measure has both positives and negatives, but he said it couldn't be assumed everyone in the state would support something primarily benefiting students and universities.

"At some point you've got to let people keep their tax dollars and spend it and save it as they see fit," he said.

Tilley said he hoped the governor would have called a session to run after the legislature's veto session, where they vote on whether to overturn vetoes given by Nixon on certain legislation. He said this option would have been the most affordable for the taxpayer.

"I would have thought if he had done, he would have done it over a veto session," Tilley said. "My gut feeling is that it is probably not very likely, but I certainly share Chris Kelly's desire to get this done."

For the legislation to make it through the Senate in either a special or regular session, a potential filibuster from Republicans would have to be avoided. But in a news conference held last Wednesday, Purgason said he couldn't be persuaded to change his view about the bonding measure.

"I've been here for 13 years. I'm not going to change now," he said. "Those are bad ideas. To turn around and borrow another $800 million to put a building somewhere is nuts."