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PrintJEFFERSON CITY — A bill up for a vote in the House Higher Education Committee on Tuesday could delay House Republican leaders’ plans to appropriate funds from MOHELA asset sales for higher education.
If approved, the measure would require the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority to hire independent investigators to review the financial and legal aspects of any sales or liquidation of its assets.
Rep. Clint Zweifel, D-Florissant, who presented the bill in committee Tuesday, said he was worried that proposals in the General Assembly to sell MOHELA’s assets were moving too fast.
“I have sincere concerns that there has already been a commitment made to do something that isn’t necessarily well thought-out or planned,” Zweifel said. “As part of that I think there has been a real lack of independent analysis on what this means for the students, what this means for the state, what this means for the organization.”
Rep. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, voiced concern that Zweifel’s bill would delay the sale of MOHELA’s assets if time for legislative approval was taken into consideration.
“If this bill does come in,” Pearce said, “effectively that would sidetrack (MOHELA asset sales) for a year. Isn’t that right?”
Zweifel said he thought it could take less than a year depending on the approach MOHELA, the governor and House leadership took, if a potential legislative veto is enacted in September.
Rep. Carl Bearden, R-St. Charles, the speaker pro tem, asked Zweifel what he thought of the legal ramifications of the sale of MOHELA’s assets.
“I’m not an attorney, so by no means am I saying this is an illegal act,” Zweifel said. “I just want to make sure we’re on solid legal grounds.”
However, he did later say that he was not convinced that the current proposal to sell MOHELA’s assets was legal.
Alan Purdy, a founder and member of MOHELA for 22 years, testified for the bill. He said that Zweifel’s bill would make sure that there was research and study on how the sales of MOHELA’s assets would affect its operations and service to students.
Rep. Juanita Walton, D-St. Louis, asked Purdy, “If we take money from MOHELA, what is that going to cause in terms of their fiscal responsibility?”
“That is a good question,” Purdy said. “How much can they take out of (MOHELA) and still have operating to carry out the mission, which we were told to do 25 years ago?”
No representative from MOHELA testified on the bill, though its lobbyist attended the hearing.
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