GOP leader seeks vote on marriage amendment

DES MOINES -- The top House Republican leader said he will attempt a procedure maneuver as early as today in an attempt to force a floor debate on a resolution to place a constitutional amendment before Iowa voters to declare marriage as only between a man and a woman -- not gay couples.

Likewise, GOP leaders in the Iowa Senate plan to circulate a petition to discharge the bill from committee to the full Senate under that chamber's rules.

"It's now or never. I would like to see this legislation pass rather than die this year," said House GOP Leader Christopher Rants of Sioux City, who plans to use House rule 60 to call for a full House vote to pull the stalled resolution -- with bipartisan sponsors -- out of committee and place it directly on the House calendar. If successful, he then would seek a House vote on the merits of the resolution.

Rants said he has seen the maneuver used four times in 16 years, with only one effort being successful.

"The votes are here to pass it if they vote their conscience," he said.

"The polls show that Iowans are in favor of traditional marriage. I think the bulk of the legislators are in favor of traditional marriage, so we're going to find out (Tuesday) whether or not legislators are listening to the people or if they're just going to do what their political leadership tells them to do," he added.

Leaders of the Democratic-run Legislature have said they plan to await the outcome of an Iowa Supreme Court challenge to a district judge ruling that declared Iowa's marriage law unconstitutional before deciding what action, if any, would be appropriate. Polk County District Court Judge Robert Hanson tossed out Iowa's law defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, as invalid last year.

"He has a right to do that. So we'll react to it when it comes up," House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said of Rants' procedural challenge.

To amend the Iowa Constitution, House Joint Resolution 8 would have to be approved in exact form this session by the House and Senate and again by the 83rd General Assembly that will be elected this November before it would be placed on the ballot for consideration by Iowa voters.