JEFFERSON CITY - Choosing partisan politics over Missouri students and his own constituents, House Minority Leader Jeff Harris of Columbia has rejected a plan to provide $350 million for state colleges and universities including $85 million for a research facility at the University of Missouri.

Harris, who has been a longtime supporter of the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative, bowed to political pressure from fellow Columbia Democrats Sen. Chuck Graham and Rep. Judy Baker in opposition to Gov. Matt Blunt’s bold initiative to promote higher education and stimulate job creation through the construction of cutting-edge facilities like the one proposed for the University of Missouri-Columbia.

“In what can only be explained as a cowardly act, Jeff Harris has turned his back on Missouri students and his constituents by coming up with a politically expedient excuse that has more to do with making Democrat Party bosses happy than with what is best for Missourians,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Jeff Harris has gone from courageous supporter of this bold initiative to a supporter of the kind of political obstruction pioneered by fellow Columbia Democrats Chuck Graham and Judy Baker at the expense of his own constituents.”