It is one year since the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill removing the timeline on ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Rep. John Curtis and Ben McAdams voted together, in a bi-partisan action, to remove the arbitrary timeline imposed in the secondary language of the amendment.
And, yet, there is still no equality for women in the Constitution. The bill was held in the U.S. Senate and not allowed to be heard.
This year will be different.
With the myriad of issues taking place in the United States today, including a global pandemic and record unemployment, women should be at the forefront of these conversations because they are disproportionately affected. Forbes magazine recently noted that women lost 5 million jobs in 2020, 140,000 jobs lost in December alone. Women make up most of our essential workers in health care and education. It is only due to the bi-partisan efforts of Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, and Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, that women are again coming to the fore on some of these issues locally.
But Utah’s representatives in Congress can add important momentum to the national conversation and remove the last barrier to certification.
Bills to remove the arbitrary timeline on the Equal Rights Amendment were introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate on the first day Congress reconvened. In the Senate, the bill is introduced as a “Day 1 Bill” by Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. In the House, the bill is introduced by Reps. Jackie Speier, D-California, and Tom Reed, R-New York, along with 195 additional original cosponsors. Will your congressman support it?
The ERA would be a powerful new tool to fight systemic inequality and address issues such as gender-based violence, pregnancy discrimination, pay inequity and so much more. Utahns have always known the importance of equality in promoting strong business and supporting families. In fact, our state was the second state to include an equality clause in our state constitution.
We believe in individual liberty and fairness. We boast the first women to vote — Seraph Young, grand-niece of Brigham Young. And yet Utah consistently comes in last on basic equality metrics. We can change that. Utah can lead out on this issue. Rep. Chris Stewart recently tweeted that we must find junctures and topics we can agree on. Utahns do agree on the need for greater respect for women. The ERA offers a consistent standard of fairness in our state and in the nation.
In January 2020, Virginia voted to become the 38th state to ratify the ERA. With that ratification, it has now satisfied all the requirements set forth in the Constitution. The Department of Justice under the Trump administration has taken the position that the ERA is not valid today because of a seven-year time limit that Congress inserted in the joint resolution, when it was proposed in 1972. That position is now the subject of federal litigation. In the meantime, Congress could resolve the question by voting to change the joint resolution, removing the time limit.
With local bipartisan support in Utah and continued leadership from Utah’s representatives in D.C., the House and Senate could both take action in this session, finally bringing the ERA to the floor for a vote, and bringing real equality to the United States of America.
I’m grateful to my representatives Rep. Melissa Garff Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, and Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, for their strong commitment to putting women in the U.S. Constitution at last.
Reach out and ask your lawmakers to support women. This is the time — 2021 is the Year of the ERA.
Kelly Whited Jones
Kelly Whited Jones, North Salt Lake, is a lifelong Utah resident, an educator and fundraiser and co-chair of the Utah ERA Coalition.