Iowa Governor Signs Bill Reversing Gender Balance Rule for State’s Governing Bodies

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a bill on April 3 that ends a mandate that state, county, and local decision-making bodies must be balanced by gender. After thanking specific parties involved in the legislation, Ms. Reynolds said: “I just want to thank everybody that’s played a role in this to get this common sense bill to my desk and now it is certainly my pleasure to sign it into law.” Before Ms. Reynolds’ signature on the bill, Iowa was the only state in the United States to require explicit gender balance on state, county, and local decision-making bodies. This policy was discontinued to coincide with a nationwide trend away from gender and race-centered policies....