NBAF Money Clears Senate Funding Panel

(AP) – A U.S. Senate committee has endorsed spending $404 million in the next fiscal year to construct a new federal research lab at Kansas State University.

The action Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee sends the spending request for the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility to the full Senate for passage. The House has already approved $404 million for the project, part of the Department of Homeland Security’s budget for 2014.

Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, both Republicans, announced Thursday’s development on the funding.

The $1.25 billion lab will research deadly animal and livestock diseases, replacing an aging facility at Plum Island, N.Y. The state of Kansas is matching the federal funding by authorizing $305 million in bonds, as well as $35 million from the Kansas Bioscience Authority.