Paperwork has been filed to launch a referendum campaign to overturn the General Assembly’s authorization of a plan to sell off $350-Million of assets of MOHELA – the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority.
Governor Matt Blunt’s Lewis & Clarke Initiative would finance construction projects on college and university campuses throughout the state and would provide money for scholarships.
The document to initiate this referendum is signed by Allen Purdy, who was one of MOHELA’s original board members and a longtime director of student aid for the University of Missouri. Purdy, who is now in his 90s, will leave the legwork to younger, more vigorous individuals. He does not plan to be active in the referendum effort.
That effort will require signatures from at least five percent of the voters in six of Missouri’s Congressional districts if the issue is to be put to a vote of the people.
