A state senator threatens to filibuster Governor Blunt’s nominee to the University of Missouri Board of Curators when his name comes before the full Senate today. Kansas City business executive Warren Erdman has passed the first test; approval of the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee. He understands, though, that his nomination faces the opposition of at least one Republican senator. Erdman has told the committee that while the process might not always comfortable, he believes it’s the prerogative of every senator to exercise his or her duty and he believes that is what is being done. Erdman is the senior vice president of corporate affairs for Kansas City Southern. He has served as Senator Bond’s chief of staff, as chairman of the Kansas City Economic Development Corporation and on the University of Missouri Kansas City board. But his support of unrestricted stem cell research has drawn the ire of Senator Matt Bartle, a Lee’s Summit Republican taking the unusual step of vowing to filibuster the nomination of Republican Governor Matt Blunt. Bartle calls Erdman “a zealous advocate for human cloning research.” Bartle points out curators oversee the expenditure of millions of dollars and says it would be highly unlikely that Erdman’s zeal on the stem cell issue would not affect his judgment on how those dollars should be spent. Bartle says he doesn’t know if anyone will join him or if he will be successful, but he plans to filibuster Erdman’s nomination when it comes to the Senate floor today.
