By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Governor Matt Blunt says he welcomes an audit of Missouri's student loan agency, MOHELA.
The agency will be Susan Montee's first audit as state Auditor. The focus on MOHELA comes because of a plan pushed by the governor to sell $350 million dollars in assets to pay for college construction projects.
And Blunt says the audit could help him make his case: "I think MOHELA's probably not been as well managed in the past as it could have been, which demonstrates there's more it could do to add value to higher education here in Missouri, so I think probably helpful to our cause."
Montee has said that she's concerned about a severance package that was paid to a fired executive director.
The $350 million plan is awaiting approval by lawmakers, and Blunt is even urging Montee to extend her audit to 1996. He also says Montee should explore allegations of duplicate pension plans.