SF 2096: Iowa Repeals "Gender Balance" for State Boards
Summary
In 1987, Iowa became one of the first states to enact a law requiring state and local boards and commissions to have a balance of men and women. However, Senate File 2096 was passed in April 2024 repealing the law after the Southern District of Iowa's ruling in Hurley v. Gast finding the gender quota unconstitutional under the Equal Protections Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Legal Challenges
Rep. Hurley brought a lawsuit, Hurley v. Gast, arguing that the gender balance requirement barred his commission from the house Judiciary Committee. On January 11, 2024, the court held the gender quota unconstitutional under the Equal Protections Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose, chief judge for the Southern District of Iowa, explained: "This is not to say that gender discrimination does not exist — it plainly does across the spectrum of jobs in this country — but the evidence presented to the court does not establish this fact in this commission, in this state, in this time."
