TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Kansas officials were stunned and upset Monday to learn that President Barack Obama recommended no additional funding for construction of a new biosecurity lab, jeopardizing a high-visibility project that the state had seen as a powerful engine of economic growth.

The spending plan from Obama also said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will reassess the viability of the National Bio-and Agro-defense Facility planned for Manhattan, near Kansas State University. The project would cost an estimated $650 million and would replace an aging facility at Plum Island, N.Y.

Workers have already cleared the Kansas site, and the state has committed itself to authorizing up to $105 million in bonds to help with the project. State officials envisioned the lab, which would research foot-and-mouth and other dangerous animal diseases, as a key part of an emerging biosciences industry.

Gov. Sam Brownback and Kansas’ congressional delegation – all Republicans – issued a statement saying further review of merits of the facility is needless and “a waste of taxpayer dollars.” The officials promised to work to overcome the recommendation from Obama, a Democrat, and said doing so will protect the security of
the nation’s food supply.

Congress appropriated only $50 million of the $150 million the Obama administration requested for the lab in the current budget year, which the White House said was insufficient to begin construction.