http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/university_2219.mp3
A multi-million dollar bond proposal for construction projects at the state's universities and colleges appears to be dead. KSMU's Missy Shelton reports.
The proposal began as a way to help pay for construction and renovation projects related to the life sciences.
But the bill morphed into a broader bill that would have put the state in debt to fund projects on the campuses of nearly all the state's institutions of higher education.
If the bill had passed, the state would've borrowed 372 million dollars.
The bill sponsor Senate President Pro Temp Peter Kinder blames Columbia Democratic Senator Ken Jacob for killing the bill.
But Jacob denies killing the bill.
He says Kinder has no one to blame for the bill's demise but himself.
The bond bill included funding for the Ozarks Health Institute at Southwest Missouri State University
And the fate of the name change bill was tied to the bond proposal...The name change bill would've dropped the regional designation from the name of Southwest Missouri State University.
Ken Jacob had vigorously fought the name change.