It's still listed in the Gold Terms and Conditions that spouse/domestic partner are considered Authorized Operators which in Hertz terminology means they do not need to sign anything for contract or indeed be present at all. Log in at Hertz.com, point to My Account menu at left and click on Terms and Conditions. Also in the same menu section, if you go to the FAQ/Help and search on "spouse" one of the answers is about adding drivers as #1 Gold, and it says you don't need to do anything if the additional driver is spouse or domestic partner.

Linking to these pages usually doesn't work in my experience.

Seems to me it USED to say this on the location qualifications as well (point to Reservations, then click on Qualifications and Requirements, then put in location), but it doesn't anymore. Perhaps because the location terms are generic, and this benefit is reserved for Gold members only. Regardless of this, it's clearly still in the Gold terms that you do not need to go in to the counter to authorize your spouse to drive the car.

Considerations: you should be on the same insurance policy that includes collision and comp coverage, or using Hertz's coverage. In my case I no longer have insurance with collision and rely on credit card coverage for personal rentals (company's auto coverage for business). So we stick to me driving, as my credit card's collision coverage would not cover my "domestic partner" to my knowledge. (I really didn't research it that well. The reality is she isn't typically interested in driving except to spell me if I'm tired, and I'm usually ok doing all the driving. It's possible there's a clause in the credit card fine print that covers her, but I haven't really looked for it.)