Homestake Underground Lab Funding Approved

(AP) - The committee writing South Dakota's state budget has agreed to set aside $5.4 million to support the underground science laboratory at the former Homestake mine in the Black Hills.

A special spending bill for the lab failed in the House a couple of weeks ago.

The Joint Appropriations Committee decided Friday to add the lab funding to the state's general budget bill. The committee approved language transferring $5.4 million from five special funds to operate the lab for an extra six months until the National Science Foundation takes over and runs it as a national physics lab next year.

The committee delayed consideration of other proposed changes to the budget until more is known about whether the state will get some additional federal aid.