The ERA was Re-introduced in the Senate for Ratification Yesterday

[niyad]

The ERA was Re-introduced in the Senate for Ratification Yesterday




Just in time for Mother’s Day, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) re-introduced yesterday a joint resolution to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S Constitution. S.J. Res. 15 was introduced with 26 original cosponsors including Senator Mark Kirk (R-Il). The resolution would remove the deadline set by congress for ratification of the ERA. U.S. Representative Jackie Speier is expected to introduce an ERA resolution in the House.



The ERA originally passed congress in 1972. Like every proposed constitution amendment, after it passed by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate, the ERA was sent to the states for ratification. Congress, however, had imposed – in the preamble of the ERA – a seven-year deadline on the ratification process. That deadline was eventually extended to June 30, 1982. Thirty eight states must ratify an amendment before it can become part of the U.S. Constitution. Thirty five states ratified the ERA by the 1982 deadline.

If the deadline is lifted, only three more states would need to ratify the amendment. This is called the “three-state” strategy. As part of the strategy, ERA activists in unratified states are working to clear a path for the ERA. The Illinois State Senate passed the ERA in 2014 with a strong 39-11 vote, and in February 2015, the Virginia State Senate – which never took a floor vote on the ERA during the campaign in the 1970s and 1980s – voted to pass the ERA for the fourth time since 2011.

“As America prepares to celebrate Mother’s Day, we should be working to ensure that all women realize the promise of equal protection under the law. We cannot allow an arbitrary deadline to stand in the way of equal rights for our mothers and daughters, wives and sisters, aunts and grandmothers,” said Senator Cardin.

The ERA states: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

. . . .

http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/05/08/the-era-was-re-introduced-in-the-senate-for-ratification-yesterday/

[okaawhatever]

1. I can't remember which states haven't ratified it. nt

[niyad]

2. here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Equal_Rights_Amendment_Map.svg



Actions in the state legislatures
Ratified
Ratified, then rescinded
Not ratified, but approved by one chamber of the state legislature
Not ratified
Ratifications 1972–1977

The initial pace of state legislative ratifications was rapid; 30 states had done so by the end of 1973. The rate of ratification then slowed considerably. Only 5 more states ratified the ERA over the course of the ensuing 4 years, with none coming after 1977. Conservative women who opposed the ERA would bake apple pies for their representatives and hang signs on their infant daughters saying, "Don't Draft Us".[19] The women did this in hopes that it would stop ratification; there were no ratifications after 1977. The amendment was three states shy of the 38 needed to take effect as the March 22, 1979 ratification deadline approached. As of that original deadline the ERA had been ratified by the following states:[20]

Hawaii (March 22, 1972)
New Hampshire (March 23, 1972)
Delaware (March 23, 1972)
Iowa (March 24, 1972)
Idaho (March 24, 1972)
Kansas (March 28, 1972)
Nebraska (March 29, 1972)
Texas (March 30, 1972)
Tennessee (April 4, 1972)
Alaska (April 5, 1972)
Rhode Island (April 14, 1972)
New Jersey (April 17, 1972)
Colorado (April 21, 1972)
West Virginia (April 22, 1972)
Wisconsin (April 26, 1972)
New York (May 18, 1972)
Michigan (May 22, 1972)
Maryland (May 26, 1972)
Massachusetts (June 21, 1972)
Kentucky (June 26, 1972)
Pennsylvania (September 27, 1972)
California (November 13, 1972)
Wyoming (January 26, 1973)
South Dakota (February 5, 1973)
Oregon (February 8, 1973)
Minnesota (February 8, 1973)
New Mexico (February 28, 1973)
Vermont (March 1, 1973)
Connecticut (March 15, 1973)
Washington (March 22, 1973)
Maine (January 18, 1974)
Montana (January 25, 1974)
Ohio (February 7, 1974)
North Dakota (March 19, 1975)
Indiana (January 24, 1977)

Ratifications rescinded 1973–1979

Legislators in the following states voted to rescind their earlier ratification of the ERA:[21]

Nebraska (March 15, 1973 – Legislative Resolution No. 9)
In 1972, the Nebraska Legislature adopted the improperly-worded Legislative Resolution No. 83 followed by correctly-worded Legislative Resolution No. 86, to ratify ERA. In 1973, the Nebraska Legislature then adopted Legislative Resolution No. 9 to rescind only the aforementioned improperly-worded LR No. 83. This may mean that Nebraska—technically—did not rescind its 1972 ERA ratification.[22]
Tennessee (April 23, 1974 – House Joint Resolution No. 371 and Senate Joint Resolution No. 29)[22]
Idaho (February 8, 1977 – Senate Joint Resolution No. 133 and House Concurrent Resolution No. 10)
Kentucky (March 17, 1978 – House (Joint) Resolution No. 2 and House (Joint) Resolution No. 20)
The Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, Thelma Stovall, who was acting as governor in the Governor's absence, vetoed the rescinding resolution.
South Dakota (March 1, 1979 – Senate Joint Resolution No. 1 and Senate Joint Resolution No. 2)
Senate Joint Resolution No. 2, while not going quite so far as to rescind its prior ratification of ERA, stipulated that the ERA's opportunity for ratification—by any state of the Union—would expire on March 22, 1979; furthermore, Senate Joint Resolution No. 2 made clear that South Dakota's own ratification of the ERA would only be valid up until March 22, 1979, and that any ratification activities transpiring after that date anywhere else would be considered by South Dakota to be null and void.

The Constitution is silent regarding whether the governor of a state has any authority regarding whether that state ratifies an amendment to the Constitution. The Constitution is likewise silent regarding a state's authority to rescind its ratification of a proposed, but not yet adopted, constitutional amendment.[23]
Incomplete ratifications

At various times, in 9 of the 15 non-ratifying states, at least one house of the legislature approved the ERA, those 9 states being:

Florida – whose House of Representatives voted to ratify the ERA on March 24, 1972, with a tally of 91 to 4; a second time on April 10, 1975, with a tally of 62 to 58; a third time on May 17, 1979, with a tally of 66 to 53; and a fourth time on June 21, 1982, with a tally of 60 to 58.
Illinois – whose Senate voted to ratify the ERA in May 1972, with a tally of 30 to 21; and whose House of Representatives voted to ratify the ERA on May 1, 1975, with a tally of 113 to 62; and again on May 21, 2003, with a tally of 76 to 41 (House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment No. 1). At various times, votes were conducted in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly on the question of ratifying the ERA and while most members voted in favor of ratification, the result was always less than the requirement of a three-fifths supermajority vote in each house of the Illinois General Assembly being required for ratification by that state.
Louisiana – whose Senate voted to ratify the ERA on June 7, 1972, with a tally of 25 to 13.
Missouri – whose House of Representatives voted to ratify the ERA on February 7, 1975, with a tally of 82 to 75.
Nevada – whose Assembly voted to ratify the ERA on February 17, 1975, with a tally of 27 to 13; and whose Senate voted to ratify the ERA on February 8, 1977, with a tally of 11 to 10.
North Carolina – whose House of Representatives voted to ratify the ERA on February 9, 1977, with a tally of 61 to 55.
Oklahoma – whose Senate voted to ratify the ERA on March 23, 1972, by a voice vote.
South Carolina – whose House of Representatives voted to ratify the ERA on March 22, 1972, with a tally of 83 to zero.
Virginia – whose Senate voted to ratify the ERA on February 7, 2011, with a tally of 24 to 16 (Senate Joint Resolution No. 357); a second time on February 14, 2012, with a tally of 24 to 15 (Senate Joint Resolution No. 130); a third time on February 5, 2014, with a tally of 25 to 8 (Senate Joint Resolution No. 78); and a fourth time on February 5, 2015, with a tally of 20 to 19 (Senate Joint Resolution No. 216).

Over the past twenty years, ratification resolutions have also been introduced, but failed to win full approval in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, and Oklahoma.[24][25]

[okaawhatever]

3. Thank you for the info. I'm not surprised in the least by the states that haven't ratified it.

I didn't remember Missouri or Nevada not ratifying it. Virginia surprised me, too.

[niyad]

4. no, most of the states on the unratified list are no surprise at all.

the story goes that the lege in hawaii was actually sitting in session, waiting for the vote in congress, so that they could be the first to ratify.

would that the other states had been so determined.