State Finance Council approves additional COVID funding, plans to start Docking renovations, and KDHE projects

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – The plans to renovate downtown Topeka’s docking building will now move forward, plus additional COVID funding is on the way.

The State Finance Council met virtually Friday to vote to fund COVID-19 testing programs up to 27.1 million for the first quarter of next year — until March 30th.

The funding comes from recouped coronavirus relief funds to fund existing programs through next year.

Earlier this month, the SPARK executive committee requested funding for COVID testing up to 14.9 million.

The council also approved to fund frontline staff shortages who’ve been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with 30.3 million dollars.

Lieutenant Governor David Toland said the 24-7 plan is to support critical staffing shortages of 24-7 state facilities. this includes Kansas Department of Correction facilities, Department of Aging, state hospitals, and Commission of Veterans Affairs Office.

Lastly on the agenda was the Department of Administration to approve the docking and KDHE laboratory projects, all state finance council members approved the plans to move forward with the docking building except Senator Rick Billinger.

”Before the project moves forward there will be a final set of those programming documents to outline the spaces that would be specific for office space, and we would be following that as they prepare that final set of programming documents before it moved into that construction phase,” DeAngela Burns-Wallace, Ed.D., Secretary of Administration…