MOHELA funding not guaranteed

Some schools might not get to finish what they started, at least not for a while.

One of the main goals of the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative, signed into effect by Gov. Matt Blunt in 2007, is to create a $350 million fund to grant money for capital improvement projects to public colleges in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development Web site. The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority is responsible for providing the money for this fund to the Missouri Development Finance Board, according to the site. Sam Minner, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Education and co-chair of the Pershing Building committee, said MOHELA was to make $5 million quarterly payments to reach the $350 million total. The state of Missouri already has transferred about $230 million to the fund, Minner said, but two big issues leave obtaining the remainder of the money to an uncertain fate.

The recent economic crunch has left MOHELA several months behind on its quarterly payments, Minner said. He said this has schools very nervous, as the entire $350 million is needed to fund all of the projects Missouri schools had planned.

Secondly, Minner said the upcoming gubernatorial election could affect the future of the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative.

"Both of the individuals running for governor in the sate of Missouri have expressed great concerns about the transfer of funds from MOHELA to start with," he said. "And stumping around the state, they have made several comments about taking a close look at MOHELA, taking a close look at the deal from the very beginning, auditing funds. I don't know who's going to win the election, obviously, but what the new governor might do to kind of put a halt to this flow of money from MOHELA is unknown."

Truman planned to use $21.6 million from the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative and $4 million in local funding to perform extensive renovations on Pershing. So far, Truman has drawn from the available money to fund renovation designs done by St. Louis-based architectural firm Hastings and Chivetta, Minner said. But if the state funding does not come through, the University will put the project on hold, he said.

"Before we actually sign the agreement to implement the plans, the drawings that Hastings and Chivetta are working on, we will need to be absolutely certain that that money will be available to us," Minner said.

Pershing needs to be redone and Truman will continue with the planning phase of the project, he said. He said he hopes MOHELA funds will come through.

"But if they don't, there may well be other options available to us," Minner said. "Either direct funds from the legislature or some other source. But we will not proceed unless we see a clear funding strain for this project. We have to be careful with the resources that we have."

Budget Director Dave Rector said schools drawing money under the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative recently have been asked to participate in a cash flow projection, in which they tell the state budget office how much money they will need each month. The current fund is expected to run out in mid-summer, he said. If that happens, Rector said Truman will put the Pershing renovations on the shelf until another option to fund the project becomes available.

"Obviously there's several institutions in the state that are in the same situation we are, and some are actually in a worse situation in that they've already signed construction contracts, have a project underway and now they're being told that there may not be money available mid-summer," he said.

Although the government has promised this money to schools, the constitution mandates that the governor balance the budget, which can result in cuts as he or she sees fit, known as withholding, Rector said. He said that if MOHELA is unable to provide the funds to schools, it could result in an interesting legal situation.

Some schools have progressed far enough into their building projects that they might finish before the money runs out, Rector said. He said some schools already had projects ready to go as soon as the money was available, such as designs on the shelf from a project previously promised funding that did not come through. Smaller projects, such as the construction of general classroom buildings like in community colleges, also can be completed more quickly, he said.

Rector said he expects the new governor will address the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative early in the term, perhaps in the January State of the State speech.

"The design phase we're in is such that it will be January when we're ready to decide [whether or not to hire a contractor] so hopefully the political decision-making will match where we are so [we] won't have delays [on the anticipated final completion of the project]," Rector said.

Neither Governor Matt Blunt's nor Attorney General Jay Nixon's offices returned phone calls.