With election of female governor, it may be time to change ‘his’ Constitution

CEDAR RAPIDS - Voters may have sent the message 'there is no more glass ceiling under that golden dome” when they elected Kim Reynolds Iowa's first female governor.

Despite that observation by Acting Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, Iowa's constitution, written in the mid-19th century, doesn't recognize the possibility of Reynolds - or any woman - carrying out the responsibilities of the governor's office.

Like many official documents of that time, the constitution uses male pronouns when detailing the duties and responsibilities of the governor.

'He” is the first word of Article IV, Section 8 that describes the duties of the governor.

'He shall transact all executive business with the officers of government … He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed,” the constitution continues in Section 9. References to 'he may” and 'he shall” as well as 'he,” 'him” and 'his” follow.

The antiquated language has not prevented Reynolds from carrying out the duties of the office, which she assumed in May 2017 when Gov. Terry Branstad resigned to become ambassador to China.

Reynolds said she hasn't given much thought to that wording, 'but we probably should update it.”

Dubuque Democrat Pam Jochum thought it was time to update the constitution back in 2003 when she was a state representative.

'There are some things you scratch your head and say ‘For real?' ” Jochum said when reminded of her proposal from 15 years ago.

Now a senator - and former Senate president - Jochum thinks updating the Constitution to make it gender-neutral is long overdue.

'Any modernization of the constitution that reflects what we're thinking today would be a good thing,” Jochum said. 'We certainly don't want to change any of our constitutional rights. So I wouldn't want to open the door to do that, but certainly to update language in the constitution.”

Apparently that wasn't the thinking of legislative leaders in 2003 because her House Joint Resolution 2004 https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/billTracking/billHistory?ga=80&billName=HJR4 that would have replaced male pronouns with 'the governor” didn't see the light of day after she introduced it. It was referred to the House State Government Committee, and no further action was recorded.

Legislators, and Iowans in general, she said, are leery of changing the constitution.

'They're afraid we are opening the door to something we don't want, to some unintended consequences,” said Jochum, who led the successful effort to amend 'idiot” and other offensive language to describe people with disabilities out of the constitution.

She may have an ally in Reynolds, who called it 'a positive for Iowa and the country” that more women are running and winning elections. Although women have not achieved parity in the Legislature and Congress, 'we're at least 50 percent of the population and the language of the constitution should reflect that.”

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, doesn't oppose that, but has never felt 'particularly slighted by the constitution.”

'I've never thought of the constitution as being gender-specific. I always viewed that as the language of the day, and we construe that to mean ‘person' whoever it is,” Upmeyer said.

However, she isn't sure it's a priority with the public.

'I've never heard any Iowans at the door being concerned about that,” Upmeyer said. 'Mostly what we hear about is Iowans want us to deal with affordable health care, education issues and workforce issues.”

There hasn't been much activity by states to adopt gender-neutral language in recent years, according to John Dinan, a Wake Forest University political science professor who follows state politics. A constitutional amendment adopted by New York in 2001 may be the most recent. Vermont and Maine adopted amendments in 1994 and 1998, respectively, he said.

'On the other hand, voters defeated these sorts of amendments in Nebraska in 2000 and Wisconsin in 1995,” Dinan said.

In other states, efforts to place such amendments on the ballot have not been successful.

Removing the constitution's all-male references would send a message to women and girls, said Reynolds, who has held office for 20 years as a county treasurer, state senator, lieutenant governor and governor.

'We're seeing an emergence of women motivated to be involved,” she said.

According to the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, 92 Iowa women ran for Congress, statewide office and the Legislature. With one Iowa House race in doubt, 44 won. There will be 44 female senators and representatives when the Legislature convenes in January.

Jochum thinks that if an amendment to make the constitution gender-neutral 'narrowly defined what it is we are attempting to do - modernize language - you would think it would fly through without any problem. But that never seems to happen.”

Times have changed, Reynolds said, 'and there's probably a little more oomph behind it now with more women running and getting elected to office - and they're not shy women.”

Amending the Iowa Constitution is not a quick process. Amendments may be proposed by either the House or Senate and must be approved by two successive General Assemblies and then ratified by a majority of general election voters.

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com