President Bush to keynote Hoover Foundation fundraiser

CEDAR RAPIDS — Former President George W. Bush will headline a Hoover Presidential Foundation banquet in Cedar Rapids this fall.

Bush, who was president from 2001 to 2009, will speak at the banquet Oct. 7 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Cedar Rapids.

In addition to honoring Bush and former first lady Laura Bush for their humanitarian work in Africa, foundation President Jerry Fleagle said the event will be a fundraiser for its capital campaign to renovate the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum at West Branch. Tickets are expected to go on sale in mid-May.

Bush will participate in an “armchair discussion” with Margaret Hoover, the great-granddaughter of President Hoover and host of Firing Line on PBS.

Also being honored will be the recipients of the Hoover Uncommon Public Service Awards. This year’s recipients are Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, and Rep. Cecil Dolecheck, R-Mount Ayr. The 2020 winners, Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, and Rep. Ruth Ann Gaines, D-Des Moines, also will be honored.

The foundation chose not to present awards in 2021 when the Iowa Legislature was considering the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library tax credit. It will allow donors to claim a 25 percent deduction on their Iowa income taxes. The credit would be capped at $5 million, creating a four-to-one match to fund a $20 million renovation of the library and museum in West Branch, where the 31st president grew up.

The plan calls for $17 million to be used to redesign the museum’s landscape to enhance educational capabilities and the overall visitor experience. Another $2 million will launch the Uncommon Iowan Center with civic, humanities and historical role-playing simulation. The last $1 million will be for an endowment to support maintenance of the renovated facilities and put the institution on firmer long-term financial footing.

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