MANHATTAN — Kansas politicians hailed a provision in President Obama’s budget that includes money to finish the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University in Manhattan. His budget includes $714 million for NBAF. Governor Sam Brownback said he will ask the Kansas Legislature during the upcoming veto session to meet the requirements of the President’s funding by approving the additional bonding needed to complete the project. The federal government has spent nearly $200 million for the new facility and the state has pledged $105 million of matching state funds to the project and $35 million for research funding. In his budget, the President requested that the state add another $202 million. Brownback calls NBAF vital to the security of the country’s food supply and the health of the livestock industry. NBAF would study dangerous plant and animal diseases and would replace the aging Plum Island Lab in New York. One study says NBAF will employ more than 300 and generate more than 750 construction jobs. The study says NBAF would have a $3.5 billion economic impact on the state in the facility’s first 20 years.
Updated 4/13/12 @ 7:15 am
