MOHELA passes house committee

JEFFERSON CITY - After long debates and stiff opposition in the Senate, the state's MOHELA plan won overwhelming support in a House committee meeting Tuesday, clearing yet another hurdle on the bill's way to becoming a reality.

The House Higher Education Committee approved the bill with a 7 to 1 vote, with Rep. Sue Schoemehl, D-St. Louis, the lone dissenter.

The committee rejected removal of a Senate-passed amendment that would allow legislators with at least eight years of service in the General Assembly to teach political science at a state university without a post-graduate degree.

Rep. Rebecca McClanahan, D-Kirksville, proposed the amendment, saying that it was ridiculous to set fewer restrictions on legislators who are seeking to become professors than the rest of the applicants.

"Language like that in a bill contributes to some of the cynicism that we see and hear out there in the community regarding the legislative process," McClanahan said. "It seems to me to almost make fun of the process. I would expect it to be a parody rather than real language."

Rep. Carl Bearden, R-St. Charles, also questioned that aspect of the bill. But he chose not to support McClanahan's amendment because he said approving the amendment would send the bill back to the Senate, where the bill would likely be slowed.

Others echoed his opinion.

"We have gotten the bill to the point where it's pretty palatable to most all of the entities," said committee chair Gayle Kingery, R-Popular Bluff. "And while there are several small bits in here that some of us have minor disagreements with, at this point, with less than three weeks to go, any change in the bill it will not survive a second run through the Senate."

The amendment was offered in the Senate by Sen. Tim Green, D-St. Louis County. "I think there's a lot of practical experience of a lot of elected officials that you can not learn in books," Green said after the House committee vote Tuesday. "The strength of special interest, the strength of campaign contributions and how that all plays into the political process."

But Tuesday's approval doesn't mean an easy passage through the House.

McClanahan and Schoemehl both said they envision more questioning and arguments.

Schoemehl said she had several concerns about the bill to authorize sale of Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority assets. The sale would provide money to fund a one-time capital projects initiative at colleges and universities across the state.

Schoemehl said the MOHELA funds should continue to provide students financial aid, rather than build buildings. Schoemehl also said she was concerned that the one-time building initiative wouldn't be limited to a one-time expenditure.

"MOHELA gives opportunity to students to attend college, not build buildings," Schoemehl said.

The MOHELA money would fund capital projects at community colleges, four-year independent universities and four-year public universities.

Evelyn Jorgenson, president of the Moberly Area Community College, said the college needs money for capital projects, as enrollment has more than doubled.

Jorgenson said the money would provide community colleges with classroom space, libraries, off-campus centers, applied technology buildings and applied health centers.