Mayor Jim Gray addresses a press conference announcing the 2016 Southern Legislative Conference in Lexington while House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, Senate President Robert Stivers and Sen. Alice Forgy-Kerr look on.
Lexington, KY – Lexington will play host to an expected 1,500 conference goers as a part of the Southern Legislative Conference to be held in mid-July, 2016.
The annual conference bringing together leadership from all government branches in the southern part of the US and some from Canada, will call Lexington their home from July 16 though 20, 2016.
Though the conference is in Lexington, Senate President Robert Stivers, who will be wrapping up his year as chair of the Southern Legislative Conference during the event, said it is really an event for the entire state to take advantage of.
“Lexington is the host city, but this is something that will be for the state as a whole,” Stivers said in a Tuesday morning press conference at the Lexington Visitors’ Center.
“We want to show the state of Kentucky, not just the city of Lexington to the South and to the nation as what a wonderful state and what a wonderful city this is to live, build and prosper,” he said.
The event is estimated to pump $2 million into the economy, which would bring an average of $1,333.33 of spending for the estimated 1,500 participants.
The conference was last held in Kentucky in 2006 when Louisville played host to the event that will be celebrating its 70th annual meeting in 2016. Lexington previously hosted the conference in 1988.
The Hyatt Regency and Hilton Lexington/Downtown will serve as the main hotels for the event while others will be needed for overflow.
The Southern Legislative Conference is a non-profit, non-partisan organization headquartered in Atlanta that gives state lawmakers from across the South opportunities to share best practices and speak in a unified voice on issues impacting the region, according to a release from the Conference.
The Southern Legislative Conference is the largest of four regional legislative groups operating under the Lexington-based Council of State Governments. The 15 SLC member states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
The planning committee for the 2016 conference will be chaired by Stivers along with Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo. A host committee made up of other Kentucky legislative leaders will also play a role in the conference.