Panel advances $132.5 million for cancer research building

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The University of Kentucky would use $132.5 million of taxpayer money to build a new cancer research building under a bill that cleared the House budget committee on Tuesday.

Kentucky lawmakers approved the state’s $9.6 billion spending plan last year, and it is unusual for lawmakers to vote to amend that plan in a non-budget year. But University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto said the school has run out of quality space for researchers at its Markey Cancer Center in a state with one of the highest cancer rates in the country.

Some House Democrats voted against the proposal because they objected to the timing. If it passes the House, it would head over to the Republican controlled Senate, where Senate President Robert Stivers has endorsed the bill.