A Kansas Senate committee has introduced a bill authorizing an additional $202 million in bonds to help finance construction of a federal biosecurity lab in Manhattan.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee scheduled a hearing on the proposal Thursday. The full Legislature reconvenes May 8 to wrap up the year’s business.
President Barack Obama’s proposed federal budget includes $714 million to build the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University. The installation would replace an aging lab on Plum Island, N.Y.
The project’s total cost is $1.15 billion, and Kansas already has issued $105 million in bonds to help finance the construction of a central utility plant to serve the laboratory.
The lab will study animal diseases and develop measures to protect the nation’s food supply.
