Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has received bipartisan support in the Arizona Legislature, but Arizona's Congressional delegation appears to be lagging behind. Of Arizona's 11 Senators and Representatives, only two– Southern Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva (D- CD3) and Ron Barber (D- CD2)– have signed on to co-sponsor legislation to remove the ERA's ratification deadline.
There are two Congressional bills to remove the ratification deadline. In the House, HJ Res 43 has 104 cosponsors (including Grijalva and Barber), and in the Senate, SJ Res 15 has 34 cosponsors.
The ERA was introduced during every Congressional session between 1923 (when it was originally proposed) and 1972. It finally passed Congress nearly 70 years after it was originally introduced. In the 1970s, there was a ground war at the state level to get 38 state legislatures to ratify the ERA in order for it to become a Constitutional Amendment. The ERA fell 3 states short of ratification; Arizona is one of a handful of states that never ratified the ERA. (Contact and Twitter info for Arizona's Congressional delegation after the jump.)
To become an amendment to the US Constitution, the ERA deadline must be extended by the Congress, and three state legislatures have to ratify it. Currently, six states have ratification proposals in 2013: Florida, Illinois, Louisana, Missouri, Virginia, and Arizona; North Carolina and Nevada have ERA proposals for 2014.
Passage of the ERA is a civil rights issue. It's time for pay equity for American women. It's time to end wage discrimination based upon gender.
You Have the Power
If you back the ERA and economic equality, please contact your Congressional representatives and tell them to co-sponsor and vote for extension of the ERA deadline. Below is the Arizona Congressional delegation. Click on their names to see their websites and contact information. Click on their Twitter handles to Tweet about the ERA and their involvement. Suggested hastags: #ERA, #RatifyERA, #Equality4All, #RiseUp, and, of course, tag (#) or direct message (@) your Senator or Representative. There are sample Tweets here. Personally, I like this one: @RepSinema support #equality & #women? Prove it by signing #HJRES43 2 remove #ERA Ratification deadline. #RatifyERA#IMAH#RiseUp.
| Name | Sponsor | CPC | Black | Hispanic | Asia Pacific | |
| Jeff Flake (R) | @JeffFlake | |||||
| John McCain (R) | |
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| Ron Barber (D-02) | HJ Res 43 | |
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| Trent Franks (R-08) | |
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| Paul Gosar (R-04) | |
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| Raul Grijalva (D-03) | HJ Res 43 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
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| Ann Kirkpatrick (D-01) | |
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| Ed Pastor (D-07) | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Matt Salmon (R-05) | |
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| David Schweikert (R-06) | |
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| Krysten Sinema (D-09) | |
If you live in another state and want to know its status on extension of the ERA deadline, check out this interactive map from Progressive Democrats of America. The map also shows which state legislatures didn't ratify the ERA in the 1970s.
Ancient Arizona Republic columnist befuddled by diversity
Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com
We can’t bust heads like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don’t go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m’shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt. Which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ’em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you’d say. Now where was I… oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn’t get white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones…
Grandpa MacEachern is projecting again. Continue reading →
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Posted in Arizona Congressional Delegation, Arizona Congressional Races, Arizona State Legislature, Campaigns, Commentary, Donna Gratehouse, Editorial, Elections, GOP War On..., IOKIYAR, Media, Racism
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