Not the defining issue

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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The Iowa House followed through Tuesday on a marriage vow some legislators made during the fall election campaign. The House approved, 62 to 37, a resolution calling for a state referendum on a constitutional amendment recognizing legal marriage as only between one man and one woman.

It was step one toward putting the issue before Iowa voters. The amendment would ban marriage and all civil unions of same-sex couples.

We understand that what has become a divisive social issue deserves debate by lawmakers. But it is not the most important task on the Legislature's plate. We urge legislators not to let the marriage issue become the defining, most time-consuming issue of this session.

The Legislature must focus on many critical tasks in the weeks ahead: education funding, economic development that leads to more good jobs, reforming our badly broken mental health services system, crafting a state operating budget without the crutch of one-time revenue sources, and making many tough decisions on what to fund and what isn't a priority.

Tuesday, legislators debated for nearly three hours the merits of the amendment, which has been proposed in response to the Iowa Supreme Court's nearly two-year-old decision that struck down a ban on same-sex marriage because it violated the state constitution's equal protection clause. In November, a majority of voters also booted three of the justices up for retention who were part of that unanimous court decision.

Strong supporters of the marriage amendment include Rep. Dwayne Alons, R-Hull, who urged his colleagues to “trust Iowans to make the right decision” instead of the court.

Tuesday's outcome was not a surprise after Republicans regained the House majority in November, and many promised to bring the issue to the table. Three Democrats joined in approving the resolution.

Democrats still hold a slim majority in the Senate, where the resolution's chances of passage are considered slim. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal has vowed to block debate on the resolution, saying it has no merit.

We think the Senate should debate the resolution.

We also believe the Supreme Court ruled objectively on the constitutionality of Iowa's marriage law, and we don't think our state should add amendments that take away civil rights. However, the election results indicated the issue is important to many Iowans. The full Legislature should consider it, and every senator and representative should be on record for this and any issue that draws so much attention across the state.

But then, whether the resolution advances or not, legislators should get going on jobs, the economy, education and health care. The voters sent that message, too.