Lawmakers disagreed sharply this week over whether discrimination and bias still exist in the state as they debated a bill that would require Iowa boards and commissions at the local level to be gender balanced by January 1, 2012.

The Iowa House approved House File 243 on a 71-27 vote Wednesday, and the Senate has yet to vote on the matter.

"Unfortunately, there's a lot of bias out there, and that's what we're battling," said Repreentative Mary Mascher (D-Iowa City). "The status quo is not working. Women are not being asked to serve, and therefore the best qualified citizens are often not being selected at the local level."

Statewide boards and commissions have been gender-balanced since 1987. The Iowa Commission on the Status of Women proposed this legislation to extend this requirement to the local level, where the average rate of female appointments is 18 percent, according to a survey taken this year. Advocates say that even though some cities and counties have adopted gender balance in appointments to boards and commissions, the majority have not.

An attempt by Representative Lance Horbach to strike the entire gender-balance bill and instead say that there should be no bias or discrimination, and that the most qualified person should be appointed, failed on a 44-53 vote.

"We are way beyond the time of discrimination: man, woman, race, I don't care what it is," said Horbach (R-Tama). "We're beyond that. You must appoint the most qualified applicant or person of consideration without any bias."

Local officials have a tough enough time filling positions on boards and commissions, and this legislation requiring gender balance would make it even more difficult for them, said Representative Betty De Boef (R-What Cheer). It would also decrease the size of the pool of candidates available to fill an open spot on a board or commission, Republicans said.

Under the bill, exceptions to the gender-balance requirement would include political subdivisions that have made a good-faith effort to comply but have been unable to make an appointment for a period of three months. It also says a member of a board or commission whose term expires prior to January 1, 2012, may be reappointed even if the appointment continues an inequity in gender.