Bio labsKansas fights to keep bio lab project alive
Still reeling from the shock of finding out that the administration’s budget proposal does not contain any construction funds for the $650 million Bio Lab Level 4 facility in their state, Kansas political and business leaders vowed to fight to keep the project alive, including looking for alternative funding sources; the bio lab was considered the anchor of what is called an Animal Health Corridor stretching from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, to the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback vows that the biolab will be built // Source: europe4obama.com
Kansas political and business leaders are still reeling from the Obama administration’s decision not to include in the proposed 2013 budget any construction funding for the Manhattan, Kansas, National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) – a $650 million Bio Lab Level 4 research center which was intended as a replacement for the aging Plum Island, New York, facility.
After an initial shock, Kansas leaders say they are not going to allow the project to die.
“It’s going to be a fight. That’s the nature of what it’s going to be,” Kansas governor Sam Brownback told the Wall Street Journal. “I think we’re going to get this done. It’s going to be difficult as we work through the process. This is going to be an ongoing discussion, the top of everybody’s list for the state of Kansas.”
Kansas has already transferred land, which has been cleared and leveled, to DHS for the project, and has also authorized $105 million in bonds to pay for construction of a central utility plant.
The Wall Street Journal notes that state political and business leaders considered the NBAF as the anchor of what they call an Animal Health Corridor stretching from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, to the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. The corridor consists of hundreds of animal health companies researching and developing products and solutions for improving and advancing livestock production.
The WSJ says that Kansas looked for the NBAF to serve as a global magnet for increased bioscience activity along the corridor for the next twenty-five years or more.
House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Republican, said: “I’m all for looking at other alternatives in light of the fact that the feds aren’t being very kind right now…. I’m with the governor. I think the thing gets built (as planned) or built with a different financing scheme.”
This sentiment was echoed by Senator Pat Roberts (R- Kansas) who also said Kansas would look at alternatives for funding.
