When the Kansas Bioscience Authority met with stakeholders in Manhattan on Monday, one question continued to surface: How and when will Congress appropriate money for the federal biosecurity lab that is expected to be up and running by the end of the decade?

The answer is complex.

KBA President and CEO Tom Thornton told the KBA board of directors that a decision will be made when Congress reconvenes after the November elections.

Right now, the U.S. House appropriation subcommittee has a bill that would specifically set aside

$40 million for funding the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in 2011.

The bill passed by the U.S. Senate doesn’t fund NBAF directly.

The Senate approved the president’s request to spend $122 million for laboratory facilities in the Homeland Security and Agriculture appropriation bill. However, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also been directed to make an unspecified $36 million cut 30 days after the appropriation bill is enacted.

Thornton told the board that “one way or the other” he expects $40 million to come through for NBAF. He would prefer it to be in the way of a direct appropriation.

Kansas State President Kirk Schulz said that at almost every civic event he attends, he frequently fields inquiries on NBAF’s funding.

“We need to continue to be diligent to communicate with the community about the challenges in getting money appropriated,” he told the board.

Over the past five years, Congress has appropriated $114 million for NBAF.

In Manhattan, work has already begun to house the 520,000-square-foot facility. Land on K-State’s campus is being cleared and utilities have been moved.

Next year’s funding is among several loose ends surrounding NBAF that are expected to be tied up in the next several months.

By the end of October, the National Academy of Sciences is expected to release its review of the risk assessment Homeland Security did for the Manhattan site. Part of the $32 million Congress appropriated last year has been on hold until that assessment is complete. The risk assessment studies the safety issues surrounding a laboratory that is responsible for investigating the world’s most dangerous animal diseases, some of which can be passed to humans.

The KBA is also waiting for findings on the Inspector General’s investigation on Homeland Security’s process in selecting Manhattan as the NBAF site.

In other business, the KBA board approved spending more than $9 million over five years to bring five top researchers to the Kansas University Cancer Center. The group will help form the leadership team at the Cancer Center, and is a key component to KU’s goal in winning National Cancer Institute designation.