Hundreds of opponents and supporters of the Iowa Supreme Court's Varnum v. Brien decision legalizing same-sex marriage descended Thursday on the Iowa Capitol and watched as House Speaker Pat Murphy declined twice to call up a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman.

"Let us vote! Let us vote! Let us vote!" supporters of the Iowa Marriage Amendment shouted after the first attempt to bring the issue to the House floor was ruled out of order.

Advocates on both sides of the issue watched at about 9:30 a.m. as House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen made an attempt to bring House Joint Resolution 6 to the House floor.

I've often said that I'm a reform agnostic.

It's not that I don't believe in good government. I do. Fervently.

And I most certainly don't believe as some do that voters should be given the sole responsibility to weed out the crooks and con artists. "Let the buyer beware" just isn't good enough. Rod Blagojevich's two consecutive gubernatorial campaign wins and George Ryan's earlier win proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that voters simply aren't able to handle this task on their own.

So we do need some "consumer protection" laws in Illinois. But we should also keep some important points in mind.

I am a strong supporter of the campaign to pass a local option sales tax increase of 1 percent that would go toward school facility improvements and school construction and urge folks to vote "yes" on Tuesday, April 7.

First, we have watched schools in Scott County and every county in Iowa improve significantly thanks to the local option sales tax for schools that passed more than a decade ago. What we've seen is an influx of new parents and new homes that are attracted to newer school facilities. We can do the same in Rock Island County.

Second, not a penny of the approximately $13 million a year generated by this 1-percent increase would be spent on anyone's salaries. By law, every penny would be devoted to school facility and school construction projects determined by local school districts. And by law many important items are excluded from this new sales tax, including groceries, cards, drugs, medical supplies, farm equipment and parts, and boats and recreational vehicles.

Third, every school district in Rock Island County would receive funds from this new revenue source. Every school district voted to put this referendum on the April 7 ballot because they are closest to the challenges and opportunities at the local level.

Fourth, the public school system is the foundation of any successful community. The national and international economic crisis shows us that our kids will face tougher challenges than previous generations.

Fifth, if Kids First passes, we might be able to see property taxes frozen or even dropping as local school boards receive new dollars from the1-percent sales tax.

I've been a Rock Island County resident all my life. And I've been in the political arena a long time. I'm not a supporter of higher taxes unless the cause is right.

Opponents of this measure haven't given us a good reason to be against this issue. This cause -- our kids, our public schools -- is just and right and that's why a "yes" vote is the right vote on April 7.

Denny Jacobs

Former State Senator and East Moline Mayor

Both Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and House Speaker Michael Madigan have said that they'd like to see Illinois politics and government cleaned up before any deficit-closing tax increases are debated.

It's doubtful, of course, that the two men are talking about the same sort of cleanup - with Madigan coming from the old school and Quinn being the reformer for several decades.

Madigan mentioned two targets for reform the other day when talking to public television: the pension systems and the state's Purchasing Act. He didn't elaborate much. A spokesperson said ideas are currently being developed, but Madigan does want some of the state's purchasing reforms from a few years ago applied to the state pension systems.

Quinn, meanwhile, has pushed binding public referenda, campaign-contribution limits, and a whole host of other ideas that are never very popular in Springfield. Good-government groups and some newspapers have made contribution caps their top priority, partly because disgraced former Governor Rod Blagojevich's campaign funding apparatus was so obscene.

So, where does it go from here?