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State Council Delays Kansas NBAF Bonds

Photo by Stephen KorandaThe Kansas State Finance Council has delayed issuing bonds for NBAF, the federal disease lab being built in Manhattan.

State lawmakers have approved bonds twice to help pay for the facility. The second set of bonds includes stipulations, saying the state won’t issue them until the federal government has approved all funding.

State Senator Terry Bruce suggested the Finance Council wait to approve the bonds.


“The federal government comes up with the money that they’ve said they would provide all along, and then we’d issue our bonds. Until that happens, I don’t feel comfortable voting for any of this,” says Bruce.

The governor’s chief of staff, Landon Fulmer, also serves on the state’s steering committee for the project.

He expects the remaining federal funding for NBAF to be approved later this year or next year. He says delaying the state bonds until that happens is not a setback for the project.

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(VERSION TWO)

The Kansas State Finance Council, made up of lawmakers and Governor Brownback, has delayed issuing bonds for a federal disease lab being built in Manhattan. As KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports, the bonds will help construct the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF.


(SCRIPT)

Lawmakers have approved a total of $300 million in state bonds.

They have stipulations, saying the state wouldn’t be responsible for cost overruns and the bonds wouldn’t be issued until the federal governments supplies its full share of the cost, which hasn’t happened yet.

State Senator Terry Bruce says the State Finance Council decides if those requirements are met, and they should wait to issue the bonds.

“And that’s what I propose to do. Because of that, I don’t intend on voting for anything that issues more bonds for this project until the federal government has appropriated the appropriate funds,” says Bruce.

The governor’s chief of staff, Landon Fulmer, says the federal government could approve the last of its funding soon for the project. He says delaying the state bonds is not a setback for NBAF.

Stephen Koranda is KPR's Statehouse reporter.