The state’s economy could use another leg to stand on.

If agriculture, aviation and oil and gas are the three legs holding up the Kansas economy, state leaders certainly are doing the right thing by looking to life sciences to provide additional economic support.

None of the three current economic legs has completely collapsed, but all are suffering. Grain prices are better, but still depressed and, after a few months of high prices, the state’s beef industry was dealt a severe blow by the discovery of mad cow disease in Washington state. One hundred years after the first manned flight, aviation still is king in Wichita, but the reign is waning. Aviation job losses are a key component in state forecasters’ expectation that Wichita will lose another 2,000 jobs in 2004. The Wichita totals contribute to a loss of 27,000 manufacturing jobs in the state since 1999.

Oil and gas production also has declined, putting a damper on receipts from the state’s oil and gas severance tax. Natural gas production is expected to continue its decline as the Hugoton fields are being depleted. About the only bright spot in the big three, according to state forecasters, is that although oil and gas production is declining in Kansas, prices for those commodities are rising moderately.

All in all, it seems that the state’s three-legged economic stool is getting a bit wobbly.

That’s why a group of state legislators think this is the perfect time to propose what Rep. Kenny Wilk, chairman of the House Economic Development Committee, called a “bold package” to promote the life sciences industry in Kansas. Although Wilk hasn’t revealed any financial details of the plan, he said “it is not a small package.”

The idea is to complement a new $190 million proposal to boost the University of Missouri’s life-science research program. Kansas and Missouri are working together to support the work of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Mo. A second Stowers facility is planned, and officials want to see it built in the Kansas City metropolitan area to feed the growing life-sciences hub there.

Kansas legislators supporting the plan say it is an important step toward creating new jobs and new economic vitality across the state, not just in the Kansas City area, but other legislators are wary of a large financial commitment in a venture that doesn’t have a guaranteed return. Especially before the state’s economy has really started to turn around, they say, a large investment in life sciences will be a tough sell in the Legislature.

Legislators are right to be cautious about a big investment, but this is not the time to be timid. As the nation’s economy turns, Kansas needs to be ready to take advantage of various opportunities. If the groundwork isn’t laid now, Kansas could lag behind competing states in its ability to attract ventures that could feed the state’s economy in decades to come.

Kansas is a conservative state, not usually known for “bold” action on much of anything, but maybe it’s time to reclaim some of our ancestors’ pioneer spirit. The details of the life sciences proposal haven’t even been put on the table; it’s certainly too soon to reject the efforts of Wilk and others who support the plan. It could be just what Kansas needs to provide long-term support for its economy.