The National Governors Association will meet in Iowa in 2016.
Des Moines will be the location for the group’s summer meeting in mid-July of 2016. The group has met in Iowa before. More than 30 governors came to the association’s annual meeting in Des Moines back in the summer of 2005 when Tom Vilsack was Iowa’s governor. Iowa’s current governor, Terry Branstad, says he’s “pleased to have the opportunity to showcase Iowa to my colleagues from across the country.”
In 2016, Branstad would be in the middle of his sixth term as governor if he wins reelection this year. Branstad must now embark on a private fundraising campaign to raise money to stage the meeting, as the host state is responsible for security expenses, transportation and entertainment for the governors during the event. In 2005, Vilsack’s staff arranged for an evening on the state fairgrounds, with a performance by REO Speedwagon as well as speakers like Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman.