Crowd expected at public hearing on gay marriage

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Opponents and supporters of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Iowa are expected to pack a public hearing at the Capitol.

Monday night's hearing is being held by the House Judiciary Committee, which has approved a resolution that would begin the process of putting a gay marriage ban before the voters.

Legislative staffers say more than 70 people have signed up to speak.

Debate in the full House is planned later this week.

A resolution calling for a statewide vote on amending the Iowa Constitution to define marriage as between one man and a woman would have to be approved by the current Legislature and the one elected next year before it would go before voters in the next statewide election

Marriage issue likely center stage in Iowa House this week

DES MOINES – The fourth week of the Legislatures 2011 session will open with a public hearing Monday night on House Joint Resolution 6, a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment declaring “marriage between one man and one woman shall be the only legal union valid or recognized” in Iowa. The event is expected to draw a large crowd to the Iowa House chambers.

Leaders of the House GOP majority expect that representatives will debate the resolution sometime later in the week. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, reiterated his view last Friday that the resolution was tantamount to writing discrimination into the constitution and will not be called up for debate in the Senate this session

Lawmakers also are expected to wrestle with establishing a funding level for K-12 school districts for fiscal 2012. The House Education Committee is slated to debate parallel bills that would provide no growth in base state aid or in categorical funding areas for things like teacher pay raises, class-size reduction, reading readiness and professional development for the school year beginning next July 1.

Democrats who hold a 26-24 majority in the Senate plan to unveil their proposed K-12 allowable growth rate this week and begin action on an issue that traditionally is the first piece of the budgetary puzzle. Republican Gov. Terry Branstad staked out a zero growth position for K-12 allowable growth in his budget proposal last week that covered the next two fiscal years.

Speaking of Branstad's $6.16 billion fiscal 2012 budget plan, the governor's budget director David Roederer is slated to discuss specifics on the biennial blueprint with the House Appropriations Committee. Panel chairman Rep. Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale, said he expected representatives will begin budget discussions that will be a major part of their session's work.

The week likely will produce dueling job-creation initiatives in the House and Senate. Legislative Republicans and the governor's office are slated to announce a major jobs initiative on Monday, while Democrats planned to unveil the second phase of their proposals to help small businesses aimed at improving opportunities for education and job training.

Representatives also are slated to debate a measure that would put Iowa's status as a right-to-work state in economic development materials. House committees are slated to consider issues that include a proposed 20 percent across-the-board state income tax cut and the “castle doctrine” that allows people to defend themselves in their homes and workplaces.