JEFFERSON CITY — The governor’s plan to sell off some of the assets of Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority is in a political deadlock. Republicans and Democrats are not compromising on a plan, and Democrats cannot come to an agreement among themselves, one Senate Democrat said Wednesday.
Late Tuesday morning, a group of Republicans and Democrats met to find a bipartisan solution to Sen. Gary Nodler’s, R-Joplin, higher education bill that includes the MOHELA sale. The meeting came directly after Senate
Democrats held a 14-hour filibuster blocking a vote on Nodler’s bill.
Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence, one of the leading opponents of the governor’s MOHELA plan, attended the meeting and said it was clear that a compromise was tenuous at best.
“The fact that there was a meeting raised a lot of expectation on the other side,” Shoemyer said.
Shoemyer said that the meeting addressed one of his top concerns — that the MOHELA sale might not come up with all $335 million needed to fund the addressed projects.
MOHELA has already sold $211 million of its assets as of this month. Shoemyer said that he would like to see the university projects at the center of the MOHELA bill be paid by state bonds,instead of MOHELA assets.
One of the suggestions brought up in the meeting, Shoemyer said, was the possibility of bonding half of the money needed to fund the building projects.
Although that pleased Shoemyer, other Democrats wanted to see different ideas. Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, has continuously said he thinks that the MOHELA sale should fund research facilities and the bill shouldn’t infringe on stem cell research.
Senate Minority Leader Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis, has said she is concerned with the tuition cap.
But Coleman said that although there might be different opinions within her party, that the same division happens within the Republican ranks, and it’s possible the Republicans do not have enough votes to pass Nodler’s bill. It takes 18 votes to pass a bill — 21 of the Senate members are Republican.
“It’s great when both sides work together, but when you have what you need, why is there so much put on Democrats’ support?” Coleman said.
She said if Republicans had all 21 votes, they wouldn’t come to the Democrats for a compromise.
When Democrats would not accept a compromise, Republican Senate leaders on Tuesday night set aside the higher education legislation rather than forcing senators to remain for a second-straight night of expected Democratic filibustering.
The Senate did not return to the bill Wednesday, and it was unclear when it would do so.