Blunt Not Overly Concerned With MOHELA Lawsuit

Governor Matt Blunt calls a threatened lawsuit against the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority a mere hindrance to his plan to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for higher education. Attorney General Jay Nixon says he will file a lawsuit in St. Louis, claiming the MOHELA board broke the State Open Meetings law in approving the Governor’s plan. Blunt says his Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative would make an important investment in state colleges and universities. Blunt says Nixon’s request that the courts render null and void the board’s decision to sell about half its assets to raise the necessary money for the Governor’s proposal an extreme measure. Nixon, a Democrat, is raising money for a run for Governor in 2008 when Blunt would stand for reelection. When asked whether he believed Nixon’s lawsuit was politically motivated, Blunt replied, “I assume so.”