House Passes Resolution to Congress Urging Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed H.F. 197, a resolution to Congress to affirm the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The resolution directs the Minnesota Secretary of State to send the memorial to the President of the United States, Congressional leadership, and members of the United States Congress.
The bill, authored by Representative Kristin Bahner (DFL – Maple Grove), passed on a vote of 69-51.
“Our founding documents contain soaring rhetoric on the pursuit of life and liberty, freedom and equality, but women have long been denied this promise under the very laws provided to protect us. We seek no favor for our sex, merely the opportunity of equal treatment under the highest law of the land, the US Constitution,” said Rep. Bahner. “I am proud to carry this bill. Now more than ever, with rights and freedoms facing erosion in states across the country, it is time to pass this resolution to expand the dream of freedom and equality under the law to all people regardless of sex.”
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first passed by Congress in 1972 and was sent to the states for ratification, Minnesota ratified the ERA in 1973. It guarantees "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
“Women deserve equal rights in all aspects of life. Assumed equality is not enough — the U.S. Constitution should be clear that women have equal rights,” said Speaker Melissa Hortman. “More than 100 years after women fought for and achieved the right to vote, women still don’t have equality in many areas of our lives like pay inequity, gender violence, and discrimination that many women still face every single day. It’s long past time that we have an equal rights amendment in the federal constitution.”
“Minnesotans have been working for decades and across generations to ratify the United States’ Constitution to ensure that women are guaranteed equality under the law,” said House Majority Leader Jamie Long. “I want to thank Rep. Kristin Bahner for her strong leadership, as well as many others on whose shoulders we are standing. It’s long past time to cement the ERA into the highest laws of the land.”
The ERA states the amendment will take effect two years after the last constitutionally necessary state ratification occurs, and on January 27, 2020, Virginia became the 38th and final state needed to ratify the ERA. Based on the 2-year effective period provided for states to prepare for compliance with the law, the 28th Amendment became effective on January 27, 2022. Despite meeting all the requirements of Article V and no legal precedent to deny the 28th Amendment, the archivist has yet to officially publish the amendment. The adoption of the ERA will help to advance justice for women and girls nearly 100 years after its first introduction.
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