Hunter
04/10/22
President Joe Biden is visiting Iowa next week, but not Des Moines as previously reported.
The White House has confirmed that the president will visit Menlo Iowa, a small city in Guthrie County just west of Des Moines, on Tuesday. They report that Biden will discuss his economic agenda and actions he is taking to lower costs for working families. Information the White House provided to the Des Moines Register adds that Biden will tout the investments in rural Iowa delivered through the infrastructure law he signed late last year, investments that are estimated to be about $5 billion.
The Gazette reports that a spokesman for a biofuels agency in Sioux Falls South Dakota says Biden is also expected to announce a federal waiver that would clear the way for gas stations to sell the E15 blend of ethanol year-round. Currently, E15 cannot be sold in Iowa during the summer.
It’s the president’s first visit to the state since October 30th, 2020, four days before the election that put him in office.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa Governor, will not be joining Biden for the visit, as he recently tested positive for COVID-19. He joins Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on the list of people in the Biden administration who have recently tested positive.