By Joe Hadsall
jhadsall@joplinglobe.com
A founding member of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority said he doesn’t have enough time or money to continue a petition drive against a recently enacted law.
Allan Purdy filed a referendum last month with the secretary of state’s office, days after Gov. Matt Blunt signed a higher-education bill that authorized the sale of MOHELA’s assets in order to pay for construction projects at Missouri colleges and universities.
Purdy said he could not cover the cost of getting enough signatures to put the sale on the November 2008 ballot.
“It was going to cost more than anyone was willing to pay,” Purdy said. “And if this had ever gone to the people for a vote, then we’re talking about big money.”
Purdy estimated he needed about $100,000 for the initial petition drive.
Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and Crowder College in Neosho are both beneficiaries of the sale.
MSSU is slated to receive almost $19 million for a new health-sciences building. Crowder will get $2.2 million, which will be used to complete the Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Training Center.
Neither school slowed efforts toward construction in response to the referendum proposal.
“We never heard anything from anybody with regards to being concerned about it,” MSSU President Julio Leon said. “But, I’m relieved to hear it has been withdrawn. It eliminates another element of uncertainty.”
Blunt had a ceremonial bill signing May 25 at MSSU. Since then, Leon said, the university has been updating its plans for a building that has been in the works for more than 10 years.
“We asked our architect to speed up the development of plans,” he said. “It has been so long, we need to get moving with this.”
Cindy Brown, public information director for Crowder, said the school has not made any plans for its appropriation yet, so construction progress was not affected.
“There shouldn’t be any changes right now,” Brown said. “We should be getting started on construction by the end of this year.”
A referendum is similar to an initiative petition, said Carrie Bebermeyer, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. She said Purdy would have needed to collect signatures, in six of the state’s nine congressional districts, from 5 percent of registered voters by Aug. 28.
Purdy said he filed the referendum to “alert the public” about the sale, with which he disagreed.
“The governor wants to grab all the money he can from MOHELA and spend it,” Purdy said. “He is not making money with this sale. He is simply withholding money from poorer students who need it.”
MOHELA sale
The sale of MOHELA’s assets will raise about $350 million for construction at Missouri universities and colleges. The authority would pay the money over six years to the state. In exchange, the loan agency would get a 15-year pledge of tax-exempt bonding power, which it could use to finance more student loans.
Local News
Organizer withdraws MOHELA petition
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Mo. optometrist filed $40 million refund claim
A southwest Missouri optometrist who filed a tax return claiming a $40 million refund has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.
-
Okla. receives waiver from No Child Left Behind
Oklahoma’s top education official reacted with glee Thursday with the announcement that the state is one of 10 states being granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law that requires students be proficient in reading and math by 2014 — but focused on getting students to “just pass the tests.”
-
Kan. House approves bipartisan redistricting bill
Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts.
-
Fugitive in 1993 British heist arrested in Ozark
A man suspected of stealing about $1.5 million from a security van in England in 1993 has been arrested in southwest Missouri.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
