A move to force a House resolution banning same sex marriage in the state out of committee and onto the floor for debate failed Tuesday morning by a 49-46 vote. Five members were absent and did not vote.

Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, used the rare procedural move because Democrats who control the House Judiciary Committee have stalled discussion of the resolution until the state supreme court rules on the constitutionality of such laws later this spring.

Rants requested the vote at the beginning of the day Tuesday to move the House resolution out of committee and onto the floor. A vote in favor of Rants’ proposal would have been just one step for proponents of the amendment; House members would still have been required to vote on the actual resolution and then send it to the Senate.

Because of the nature of the procedural move, the vote came without any of the heated debate that has typically accompanied all previous discussions. At about 9:30 a.m., Rants called made a motion from the floor asking that the resolution be withdrawn from the Judicial Committee.

“We’ve not reached the halfway point of the session and nothing has been done,” he said.The debate over a gay marriage amendment has been hotly debated in the halls of the legislature but hasn’t received any attention on the floor of the House or the Senate. That’s because both chambers of the legislature are controlled by Democrats who are generally opposed to a vote on the amendment.

Democrats hold a 53-47 majority in the House and Rants said on Monday he expected most Republicans to vote in favor of his motion. In addition, some Democrats were co-sponsors of a resolution last year to force the statewide vote. Rants said at least seven Democrats have expressed support for such an amendment in the past.

The issue of gay marriage became a focus of conservative activists in August, when Judge Robert Hanson ruled that the state’s marriage law is unconstitutional and ordered Polk County to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The decision is awaiting appeal at the Iowa Supreme Court.

Democatic leaders in both chambers have said that they don’t think it is appropriate to debate the issue until the high court has had an opportunity to review Hanson’s ruling.

Amendments to the Iowa Constitution need to be approved by simple majorities in both chambers in two consecutive general assemblies and then be approved by voters in the next general election. The earliest a final vote could be taken on a constitutional amendment is 2010.