Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO) likes the findings of State Auditor Susan Montee’s (D-MO) audit of MOHELA – the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority – an audit that began with Fiscal Year 2001, but he would like to have seen the audit cover a longer period of time – the past decade.
Montee’s report calls for greater oversight of MOHELA, pointing to many examples of what she considers to be excessive spending and benefits. Among the excesses: Christmas gifts were handed out, using public money. Montee also points to what she considers excessively high performance bonuses paid to executives, excessively high vacation and personal leave for executives, and a car allowance starting at $750 a month and adjusted each year.
While Blunt would like to see the an audit cover more time and actions, he does like what has been found. Blunt says this mismanagement on the part of MOHELA makes clear there is room for proposals like his Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative, which would see about $350-Million of MOHELA assets sold to fund building projects on college campuses. This audit did not discuss the Governor’s proposal – let alone take a position on it. It focused solely on the actions of the MOHELA Board.
Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)
