A disagreement over $2 million for a university is contributing to a stalemate on Missouri's $24 billion budget plan.
Republican House Speaker Steven Tilley wants to add the money for his alma mater, Southeast Missouri State University. The Cape Girardeau school has the second lowest funding-to-student ratio among Missouri's public universities.
But the funding increase is opposed by Sen. Jason Crowell, a Cape Girardeau Republican who was once the student government president at Southeast Missouri State. Crowell has accused Tilley of trying to earmark the money as a prelude to a post-legislative career as a lobbyist.
Tilley says he has not made plans to become a lobbyist when term limits end his legislative career next January. He accuses Crowell of carrying a grudge against the university's president.
