A judge says people trying to keep the state student loan authority from selling some of its assets don’t have enough of a case to stop the sale.
Governor Blunt wants the money from the assets to be used for new buildings on college campuses. The legislature changed the law this year letting the authority sell those assets.
Opponents say the law violates the purpose of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority and argue that no assets accumulated before the new law went into effect August 28 can be sold for the Governor’s purpose.
Attorney John Lichetennegar charges MOHELA’s board has ignored its duty to spend money on student loans or to lower interest rates. He says students built the profits for MODELA and nobody but students had a right to use those proceeds produced before August 28.
But MOHELA Attorney James Irwin says the legislature has the power to direct MOHELA to sell the assets–and has done that. “The state legislature can giveth and the state legislature can taketh away,” he told the court.
The judge says Lichtennegar and his group have not made a legal case worthy of a restraining order against the sale. But the lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of the bill and the sale will go ahead. If opponents win, somebody will have to pay back 230-million dollars to MOHELA.