Kansas officials open to NBAF funding alternatives

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas leaders are regrouping and searching for alternatives for funding construction of a new federal biosecurity lab near Kansas State University.

President Barack Obama's 2013 budget proposal doesn't include any construction funds for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, though there is money to transfer some research to Kansas from an aging lab in Plum Island, N.Y.

Gov. Sam Brownback and legislative leaders say the $650 million project means too much to the nation's food safety and the state's economy to delay construction. They say they are willing to look at funding alternatives, including increasing the state's contribution to keep the lab, which would conduct research on deadly plant and animal diseases, on track.