Efforts to debate marriage amendment thwarted

DES MOINES – Traditionalists vowed to “remember in November” after minority Republicans tried and failed Tuesday to force debate on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between one man and one woman.

However, proponents of same-sex marriages made possible by an April 2009 Iowa Supreme Court decision praised majority Democrats for rejecting “destructive politics of division” in turning back efforts by “opponents of equality” to overturn the court ruling.

GOP leaders conceded Tuesday that their resolutions seeking to place a constitutional amendment before voters likely won't survive an eligibility deadline this week. But they pledged to continue trying other procedural avenues until the Legislature adjourns and then turning their attention to November.

That's when general-election participants can vote to call a constitutional convention to address the marriage amendment and other issues or vote to replace “obstructionist” legislators with elected officials who will give the people a chance to vote to amend the state constitution, GOP lawmakers said.

“Every single Republican believes the final arbiter of this important decision should be the people of Iowa,” said Senate GOP Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton. “It is wrong to silence the people of Iowa on this important issue. The people of Iowa deserve a vote.”

Sen. David Johnson, R-Ocheyedan, said he began circulating a discharge petition to move Senate Joint Resolution 2001 out of committee, but it had only garnered signatures from 18 GOP senators and Sen. Tom Hancock, D-Epworth – short of the needed 26 votes to place the issue on the Senate debate calendar.

In the House, a rarely used procedural “call of the House” was invoked by House GOP Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha to summon all representatives not previously excused to vote whether to pull House Joint Resolution 6 from committee and place it on the debate calendar. That effort fell short, 45-54, with Rep. Dolores Mertz, D-Ottosen, joining 53 House Republicans in supporting the procedural move.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate indicated they would not call the issue up for debate this session even if Republicans succeeded in pushing their resolutions forward.

“We're not going to be bogged down this session with divisive social issues,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines. “We're working on all these other bills and the budget in a shortened time frame. That's what we're going to focus on.”

McCarthy said he expected there would be attempts to “inflate” Tuesday's procedural outcome for political purposes by characterizing it as a vote on the merits of the issue but that was not the case.

“If they're going to use this I would very much advise the Republicans that it's the economy stupid, to use a term from about 18 years ago,” said House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, harkening back to a campaign theme used by former President Clinton.

“We think this is the wrong focus. We think the focus this year should be on what we can do to grow the economy, to create more jobs, to balance the budget,” added Murphy, who promised a jobs package later this month. “I hope this is the last we have one of these types of votes this year.”

Bryan English of Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION accused Democrats of turning their backs on the Constitution, their assigned legislative duties and the people of Iowa by refusing to take action on the marriage amendment.

“Speaker Murphy and his caucus can only ignore the people of Iowa for so long. We will remember in November,” English said. “We look forward to working with the new speaker in the next session to pass the Iowa Marriage Amendment.”

Carolyn Jenison of One Iowa applauded legislative efforts to block efforts to overturn the Supreme Court ruling and “deny the protections of civil marriage to gay and lesbian couples.”