Iowa House Says No to Lifting Gambling Moratorium
Friday, February 27, 2004, 2:47:29 PM From The KCRG-TV9 Cedar Rapids Newsroom
The Iowa House said "no" to lifting the moratorium on new casinos in the state but gambling supporters aren't giving up just yet. http://www.kcrg.com/article.aspx?art_id=77230&cat_id=123

The US House of Representatives has passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act with 61% of the Representatives approving the bill.  http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200402\NAT20040226b.html

Iowa Senate panel acts on gay marriage By JONATHAN ROOS
Register Staff Writer http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4780934/23639956.html 
02/26/2004
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The battle over gay marriage spread to the Iowa Capitol on Wednesday when a Senate committee narrowly approved a pair of proposals calling for changes in the U.S. and Iowa constitutions.

Gays and lesbians "don't have a right to redefine marriage for our entire society," said Sen. Neal Schuerer, an Amana Republican. He led debate of a resolution calling on Congress to propose a constitutional amendment defining marriage "as the legal union between one man and one woman."

The constitutional proposals, approved on identical 7-6 votes by the Senate Human Resources Committee, face a murky future in the Legislature.

"I don't know where the votes are" in the entire Senate, said Majority Leader Stewart Iverson, a Dows Republican.

Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, said there's no need for a constitutional amendment.

"I have real concerns that this whole debate is all about politics, and it's really taking us away from very significant business that has to be done before this Legislature can adjourn," Vilsack said.

Iowa and federal laws are already on the books that say marriage is between a man and a woman. But those advocating constitutional definitions of marriage, including President Bush, complain that such laws are being undermined. They point to recent court decisions and the actions of local officials in a few states that recognize gay marriage.

"We need that extra emphasis and validity and authority that our constitution would afford," said committee Chairman Ken Veenstra, an Orange City Republican who led debate for the proposed state constitutional amendment.

Critics said changing either constitution is unnecessary.

"I think the law is pretty strong right now," said Sen. Maggie Tinsman of Bettendorf, the only Republican to vote with the Democratic minority in opposing both resolutions dealing with gay marriage.

Sen. Keith Kreiman, a Bloomfield Democrat, said adopting a constitutional amendment would seem mean-spirited to many people "because it doesn't show tolerance for loving people in committed, homosexual relationships."

Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, applauded the Senate Human Resources Committee.

The president's call for a constitutional amendment "is strengthened the more the states speak out," Hurley said.

A Des Moines Register poll, taken in September, found that 65 percent want to keep Iowa's ban on gay marriages in effect, yet 49 percent said gay and lesbian couples should have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.

Bush Urges Congress to Pass Federal Marriage 02/24/04 http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200402\CUL20040224b.html

New Mexico County May Issue Same-Sex 'Marriage Licenses' 02/20/04
http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200402\CUL20040220d.html

Bush Uses Recess Appointment to Place Pryor on Appeals Court Bench
http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200402\NAT20040220c.html

Gay-marriage ban clears Iowa Senate committee- By Todd Dorman
DES MOINES — Dual resolutions calling for state and federal constitutional bans on gay marriage narrowly cleared an Iowa Senate committee Wednesday.
The Senate Human Resources Committee voted 7-6 in favor of each measure.
One would start a two-year process to amend Iowa’s constitution and the second urges Congress to push forward with a national amendment.
Current Iowa law already bars legal recognition of gay marriages. But supporters of a constitutional change argue that Iowa’s statute could be overturned by “activist’’ judges, just as a similar ban was tossed out in Massachusetts.  http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1024748&t=Iowa+%2F+Illinois&c=24,1024748

http://www.dailygate.com/articles/2004/02/25/news/news1.txt

Gambling bill grows in complexity with amendments

By DAVID PITT/Associated Press Writer

DES MOINES -- With 67 amendments and more than a dozen amendments to amendments piling up, the comprehensive gambling bill scheduled for debate in the House Thursday is growing in complexity.

"We're on the cusp of an interesting debate in the House unlike any I've experienced since I've been in the Legislature," said Rep. Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale, a three-term lawmaker who is managing the gambling bill.

The bill would allow up to five new casinos in the state, permit racetracks to add table games and establish a new taxing scheme for riverboats and racetracks.

The bill is going through an unusual process in which leaders required all amendments to be filed by Monday. All amendments to those amendments had to be filed by the end of the day Tuesday.

The process was used to allow all lawmakers all of today to absorb the content of the bill and all amendments before debate begins Thursday morning.

Many of the amendments added Tuesday were tacked on to an amendment introduced Monday by Rep. Danny Carroll, R-Grinnell.

Carroll's amendment, the first to be debated on Thursday, would place a moratorium on all casinos and not allow more slot machines or table games to be added to existing casinos.

Florida Men To Challenge State's Gay Marriage Ban http://www.nbc6.net/news/2866767/detail.html

First gay marriage in the US February 13, 2004 - 12:30PM

The freewheeling US city of San Francisco made history by marrying two lesbians who became the first same-sex couple to wed in the United States.

The couple, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, said "I do" in the California metropolis' city hall after Mayor Gavin Newsome ordered officials to wed gay couples and issue marriage licences in an act of civil disobedience aimed at challenging state law that bars same-sex marriages.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/13/1076548202738.html

SF mayor moves to grant marriage licenses to gay couples
 

Travaglini will call convention Promises vote on gay marriage amendment  http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/02/07/travaglini_will_call_convention/
By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff, 2/7/2004

Senate President Robert E. Travaglini said yesterday he will convene a long-awaited constitutional convention Wednesday and promised a vote on a proposed amendment to ban gay marriages.

"It is my hope that the debate on this intensely personal issue will be dignified and orderly," said a statement released by Travaglini's office. "As the presiding officer, I will afford everyone an opportunity to be heard, and there will be a vote on the marriage issue."

Aides said it is not clear whether lawmakers will take up the issue immediately at Wednesday's session, because of potential parliamentary maneuvering. Also, seven other proposed amendments are listed above it on the calendar. But Travaglini's press secretary, Ann Dufresne, said he will recall the convention in a "timely manner" if the marriage amendment is not considered Wednesday.
 

Same-Sex Marriage Debate Moves Into Schools http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200402\CUL20040209a.html
By Robert B. Bluey  - CNSNews.com Staff Writer - February 09, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - All eyes are on Massachusetts this week as the state Legislature prepares to address the question of same-sex marriage. But even outside the State House in Boston, public schools across the country are being encouraged to debate the issue in their classrooms.