Lawmakers say fate of constitutional amendment to be decided in November

Following failed attempts in both the Iowa House and Senate Tuesday morning to force a vote on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, Republican leadership has conceded that the issue won’t likely come up again before the November elections.

House Republicans attempted to invoke House Rule 60, a procedural move that allows a majority vote on the floor of the House to pull a bill out of a committee even if the committee has not approved it. The hope was that seven Democrats would join the 44 Republicans in the House and force a vote on House Joint Resolution 6, sponsored by state Reps. Dwayne Alons, R-Hull, and Delores Mertz, D-Ottosen. The bill would begin the process of amending the state’s constitution to declare marriage as only between one man and one woman.

Only Mertz joined with the GOP, causing the effort to fail. House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, told reporters that the issue is likely dead this session.

Read the full story from The Iowa Independent.

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