Kansas's bid for a multi-million dollar laboratory is facing a new challenge. The National Bio and Agro-Defense facility is looking for a new home, and Kansas is one of six finalists for the $451 million lab.

Yesterday, though, Texas announced it would provide additional incentives for the lab, despite the fact that the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that will ultimately determine where the new lab is placed, set a deadline of March 31, 2008 for proposals.

In a statement provided to 27 News today, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said:

"More than half of the Texas proposal announced is a contingent offer, requiring legislative action for $56 million. The Kansas Legislature, on the other hand, already has approved, and I have signed into law, a $105 million guaranteed, no- contingency offer to support the NBAF mission in Kansas."

Others associated with bringing the lab to Kansas said Friday the state has put itself in a favorable position.

“Kansas has the research expertise, we have the facilities at K-State, we have the already existing bio-security research institute, which is a state of the art new research lab for agricultural diseases,”

The governor wasn't the only one who came out today against Texas new proposal. Kansas Sens. Roberts and Brownback, along with all four Kansas U.S. Representatives sent a letter today to the DHS.

The decision about where the lab will go is expected to be announced in November. In addition to the sites in Texas and Kansas, the other states vying for the lab are Mississippi, Georgia and North Carolina, as well as the lab’s current site, Plum Island, NY.