Arizona House Votes on ERA – Messages from Beyond.

On May 19, 2021, the Arizona House of Representatives voted on the ERA and defeated it on party lines 31 – 29. First, speaker Grantham refused to even recognize Melody Hernandez to make a motion and instead Toma hurriedly made a motion to adjourn.  That was from a playbook in 2017 where they made a motion to adjourn, voted, and scuttled out of the room before the Democrats could even speak.  But then Rep. Schweibert stood up and made a motion only to have a hostile Grantham lecture her about the priority of motions to adjourn.  She made a substitute motion so they voted on whether to adopt the substitute motion. At the end of the hearing, Grantham said based on what he heard, he would never allow that again.

The arguments for and against were pretty much what would be expected.  Democrats emphasized equal pay, equal protection, economic opportunity and development, persistent pay gap, 100 years of seeking Constitutional equality, Sandra Day O’Connor introducing the bill in 1972, non-discrimination, intersectionality, and such reality-based and factual issues. (Powers-Hannley, Schweibert, Andrade, Butler, Hamilton, Bolding, Teran, Lieberman, Cano, Fernandez, Epstein, Rodriquez, Hernandez M, Longdon)

Republicans jabbered disrespectfully until Rep. Epstein made a point of order asking for “order.” Cook took the first poke talking about how a woman from his district got in the legislature on her husband’s coattails after he died and stayed there.  He mentioned mini-skirts for an unknown reason.  He said his constituents want to be left alone but of course his votes on women’s reproductive rights means he’s not leaving women alone but jumping right into their uterus to make their decisions for them. Blackman talked about how he had met top level military people and lo and behold they were women!  So there are accomplished women and we don’t need the ERA. He must be among the few Black people who think that because we had a Black president, racism is gone.  He also made the mistake of referring to the women in the legislature as “young ladies” which Teran took him to task for. Roberts referred to his “legal immigrant” wife who is the family bread winner allowing the family to get along with one salary.  Apparently, he forgot that he also gets paid but with this party, one and one does not always equal two.

Fernandez made the mistake of asking Republican women to respond saying she was sure they were concerned about these inequalities.  Rep. Parker took up the challenge and declared that the ERA would not help women because we already had equality and it was a backdoor abortion bill about which she was greatly offended.  Wilmeth glorified his own poverty stricken youth and his hard working mother declaring that we don’t need the ERA for women to advance (though no one had said we did).  He also made the false statement that Constitutional amendments have deadlines (see Article V), and that the extension bill in 1979 was passed by a majority not two-thirds in Congress (the extension bill was not an amendment for which two-thirds is required). He concluded with – what else – a quote from RGB no doubt to counter the comment about Sandra Day O’Connor.

Rodriquez in his lament about the fact that Democrats always have to use a procedural move for the ERA because the Republicans refuse to discuss it.   It must be “triggering” something that they fear and would rather do virtue signaling.  That caused Hoffman from the far right wing to accuse Rodriquez of referring to Karl Marx by accusing your opponents of something you are doing.  He thus illustrated that he knows nothing about Karl Marx or psychology.  DeGrazia then defended Rodriquez with a Rule 19 accusation:  A. No member shall be permitted to indulge in personalities, use language personally offensive, arraign motives of members, charge deliberate misrepresentation or use language tending to hold a member of the House or Senate up to contempt. Grantham first attacked DeGrazia and then ignored him.

Altogether a very disappointing but expected result to the 98-year-old movement by women to obtain equality under the Constitution.  Women have been fighting for equality since they were first subjugated.  As Bernice Johnson Reagon of Sweet Honey in the Rock wrote in “Ella’s Song” to honor Ella Baker, “We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”