MOHELA money prospects remain uncertain

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Patricia Johnson joined the faculty at Harris-Stowe State College in September 2000 to become the director of the Early Childhood/Parenting Education Center.

Nearly six years later, she's still waiting for the promised position to become reality.

That's because the early childhood center has yet to be built. And that's because the state has yet to supply any money, despite several attempts to do so.

Now there is a new plan to construct the Harris-Stowe building, as well as numerous other facilities at state universities and community colleges.

The plan depends on the proceeds of a loan sale by the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority. But like other state construction plans before it, the MOHELA spending deal is growing increasingly uncertain as lawmakers approach a May 5 budget deadline.

"I'm hopeful that this will pass," Johnson said, "but we've been hopeful before."

Indeed, legislators in the spring of 2000 appropriated $5 million for the Harris-Stowe childhood center as part of a $162 million state construction budget that anticipated the continuation of flush finances.

But the economy -- and the state budget -- turned sour. And the state diverted the construction money to pay for shortfalls in government operating budgets.

Funding for the Harris-Stowe facility resurfaced in 2004, when senators proposed a $372 million bond plan to pay for construction projects at every state college and university. By then, the state's share for Harris-Stowe had grown to $8.6 million. But the bond plan ultimately collapsed under its own ballooning weight.

In the meantime, Harris-Stowe was elevated from a college to a university. And Johnson has continued to teach a full load of early childhood courses as she awaits the building -- now projected to cost $14.1 million, of which $11.3 million would come from the state.

The current plan -- to be considered this week by the House -- would fund $353 million of campus construction projects by tapping into the projected $450 million of state proceeds from the potential MOHELA sale. The rest of the MOHELA money would go toward scholarships, business recruitment and debt retirement.

Although he prefers a different spending plan, the MOHELA deal is the idea of Gov. Matt Blunt. The board of the state student loan authority has gone along with Blunt's brainchild but has yet to actually sell any of its loans, nor settle on a date to do so.

In fact, the board is still looking into whether it can legally give the money from the loan sale to the state, and whether the state can spend it as it sees fit.

Assuming the sale goes through, legislative leaders figure they might as well appropriate the proceeds -- a move that would allow the money to be spent more quickly than if lawmakers waited until after a loan sale occurred to budget the money.

But dividing a pot of gold is never easy, especially when the coins appear after several years of lean times. Because of the recent onset of term limits, many House members can't even recall the last time they had a jackpot to pass out.

"This is the first time we've really ever had to decide where we're going to spend it," said House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill. "Believe it or not ... but I don't know if it's any easier than figuring out what you're going to cut."

Besides having competing spending priorities, some lawmakers remain opposed to budgeting the MOHELA money before determining the legality and effect of the MOHELA loan sale on college students.

Last week, Jetton announced another caveat that could make passage of a MOHELA spending plan more difficult.

The House proposal would use more than $12 million of the MOHELA money for a new scholarship program that marks a major philosophical shift in the way the state funds higher education. To be implemented, that scholarship program also requires the passage of separate enabling legislation, which barely cleared the House and is now pending in the Senate. Jetton said the House will not give final approval to the MOHELA budget bill unless the Senate first passes the scholarship legislation. And the prospects of that occurring are uncertain.

Legislative budget leaders say the chance of the college construction projects actually occurring are better this year than under the 2004 bond plan. But as the 2000 plan reminds, even approved budgets can fall victim to other events.

House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, didn't want to put a percentage on the prospect of success for the MOHELA spending plan.

"It may be more along the lines of flip a coin," he said.

A gold coin, that is, coming from a pot under a rainbow that may -- or may not -- emerge after the storm.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Capitol Correspondent David A. Lieb covers Missouri government and politics for The Associated Press.