Topeka ? Officials from Osawatomie asked the Legislature to transfer to the city nearly 400 acres currently held by the state as part of Osawatomie State Hospital.

“We call that land our gateway to economic growth,” Lois Young, of the Eastern Kansas Economic Initiative of Osawatomie, told the House Appropriations Committee.

The committee held a hearing on a bill that would convey 386 acres to the city, which wants to develop the area for businesses and industry. The committee took no action.

The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which runs the state hospital, said the land has been classified surplus.