House votes for analysis of MOHELA plan

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Almost a week after the legislative death of a $478 million spending plan for the proceeds of a student loan sell-off, lawmakers have continued their discussion about whether the sale should even happen.

The House attached an amendment Wednesday to a larger higher education bill that would require the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority to hire an independent authority to analyze the financial and legal fallout of the proposed sell-off before going through with it.

Earlier this week, lawmakers also tacked on a separate amendment to the bill to ban using MOHELA money for abortions and certain types of stem-cell research.

The MOHELA spending plan was first floated by Gov. Matt Blunt in January and updated or refined more than a half-dozen times this session to include student scholarships, health centers and campus building projects. The final plan, which had to be passed by last Friday, was killed in a stalemate between the House and Senate.