Blunt, GOP vow to keep pushing for higher ed bill

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Defeated momentarily by Democrats, Gov. Matt Blunt and Republican Senate leaders vowed Wednesday to keep pushing for passage of a $350 million college construction plan financed with cash from the state's student loan agency.

Senate Democrats so far have blocked a vote on the higher education legislation by waging an all-night filibuster and then rejecting a proposed compromise. Their opposition led majority Republicans to set the bill aside Tuesday night.

The Senate did not return to the bill Wednesday, and lawmakers are to leave today for a 10-day spring break. But House Majority Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, vowed the bill would be brought up again before the session ends in mid-May.

Blunt said he was disappointed but still hopeful.

"We've got an opportunity to pass a bill that will be the most significant, comprehensive higher education reform bill that has been passed in generations, and I think we should pass it this year," the governor said.

Blunt's plan would use $350 million from the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority to finance dozens of construction projects at public colleges and universities. The bill also would impose caps on university tuition increases, create a new scholarship program and require universities to be judged on performance criteria.

Republican and Democratic negotiators reached a tentative deal Tuesday that, among other things, would have authorized MOHELA to issue bonds to finance Blunt's building boom. That would have allowed the state to get all of its money upfront, instead of over six years, while extending the time the student loan agency would have to pay off the obligation.

But after meeting privately, the Senate Democratic caucus decided to reject the deal and continue fighting the bill.

Oppose central element

Senate Minority Leader Maida Coleman, of St. Louis, said Democrats still oppose to the central element in Blunt's plan -- the attempt to use MOHELA's money for building projects. They prefer that the student loan agency put any surplus money toward better deals for student borrowers.

Some Democrats said the negotiations were a good step, even if they didn't end the way Republicans wanted.

"Not every negotiation is going to end in a deal," Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, said Wednesday. "Not every bill is going to come to a vote."

But Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, said if Republicans have to force a vote on the legislation, he wants Democrats who tried to block the bill to lose the construction projects proposed in their districts. He said people in Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis should realize that building plans in their areas are in jeopardy thanks to the stalemate over the legislation.