Petition calls for statewide vote on higher ed plan

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A man who helped create the state's higher education loan authority filed a petition Friday to allow voters to decide whether to approve a plan to sell part of the authority's assets to support college scholarships and buildings.

The plan, approved by lawmakers and pushed by Gov. Matt Blunt, would use $350 million from the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority over six years for college scholarships and campus construction projects.

Former MOHELA board member Allan Purdy filed a petition Friday that would leave the final decision of whether that plan should go through to voters. The issue would be on the ballot in November 2008.

The state constitution allows measures already approved by the Legislature to be put on the ballot for approval. Petition gathers would need signatures from at least 5 percent of the voters in six of the state's nine congressional districts.

Throughout the week, Blunt has traveled the state to ceremonially sign the higher education bill.

Blunt first introduced a plan more than a year ago to use proceeds from the sale of some MOHELA assets to pay for buildings focused on life science research. After the Legislature did not approve the plan in 2006 and critics of embryonic stem cell research raised objections, Blunt reshaped it to focus on agricultural projects.

However, the plan still has critics, who say using money from the quasi-governmental loan agency could endanger the availability of future student loans.