ERA

$500 Billion: Gender Pay Gap Is Bigger than You ThinK

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ERA-1It is a well known fact that in the US women– regardless of economic status— are paid less than men. Gender pay gap is real.

Overall, women make 78 cents for every $1 earned by a man, with African American and Hispanic women earning far less. Over one woman’s lifetime, that is a significant amount of money. Across the country, that pay gap costs American women $500 billion per year, according to a new report from the National Partnership for Women and Families. On an individual basis the report findings break down like this:

To put it in individual terms, if women earned as much as men, each woman with a full-time job would be able to afford an additional seven months of mortgage and utilities, or 1.6 years worth of food, annually.

Tuesday, April 12, is Equal Pay Day, which was created to draw attention to gender pay gap, which has remained basically the same since 2001. Women will not have equality until we have control over our own bodies, equal pay for equal work, an equal voice in government and the Equal Rights Amendment.

For background on gender pay gap, continue reading…

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Reproductive choice

Rocker Joan Jett Says ‘When Women Vote, Women Win’ (video)

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Reproductive choice
Rocker Joan Jett wants YOU to vote— and bring friends with you.

Women are not just a voting block; we make up 53% of the voters in this country. Despite the power of our numbers, somehow 100% of the Republicans in the Senate don’t believe that we deserve equal pay for equal work, and several Republican-led Legislatures– including Arizona’s– think it’s perfectly OK to restrict your rights and force YOU to have an unnecessary vaginal ultrasound– and pay for it yourself– before you can have a legal medical procedure. (Don’t even bother to ask them if we deserve equal rights that would be granted by passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.)

In Arizona, the vote is crystal clear for women. ALL Democratic Party candidates– Congressional, statewide, and legislative— stand for equal pay, equal rights, and reproductive choice for women. Republicans stand for repression of women through continued bad legislation in Phoenix. For example, Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Ducey — and all of the Republicans in the Arizona Legislature– signed the Center for Arizona Policy’s fetal personhood pledge to fight for the rights of the unborn, over the rights of mothers. (Now you know whose side they’re on, and it’s NOT ours.)

Women– Republicans think you’re too stupid to vote. Prove them WRONG on Nov. 4. Joan Jett video and background facts after the jump.

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Deadline Looms: ERA Ratification Assigned to Judiciary Committee in AZ Legislature

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Rep. Victoria Steele’s (D-9) bill to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (HCR2016) was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee late last week. (You’ll remember that mid-week, I reported it was languishing on the desk of House Speaker Andy Tobin.)

This week is the last week for bills to be heard by committees of the Arizona Legislature. Currently, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet onThursday, Feb. 20, 2014. ERA ratification is not on the agenda, but– hey– it’s only Monday. Agendas and committee meeting dates routinely shift around in the Arizona Legislature. Arizona women deserve economic equality. It's time to make some phone calls to Phoenix!

Bills can be killed in multiple ways: they can be voted down in committee, voted down by the Legislature, or just plain ignored by the Speaker or the committee chair. If the HCR2016 isn’t heard this week, it will die in committee. Arizona women deserve economic equality. Tucson's favorite "moderate" LD9 Rep. Ethan Orr is on the Judiciary Committee; he could be an important swing vote on the ERA.  [Contact information for committee members after the jump.]

AZ Reps. Grijalva and Barber Back Extension of ERA Ratification Deadline

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

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.)

HCR2016 ERA Ratification Bill Languishes on Speaker Tobin’s Desk

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Victoria STEELEby Pamela Powers Hannley

Tucson Rep. Victoria Steele has introduced two bipartisan bills to advance the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the Arizona Legislature. One has made it to committee, while the other is waiting on Speaker of the House Andy Tobin's desk.

HCR2016 is a bill to ratify the ERA. Although ERA ratification has 22 sponsors, including four Republicans, it hasn't made it "out of the gate" yet. According to an aid in Steele's office, HCR2016 hasn't had a "first read" yet. Bills are read first by Speaker Tobin, who determines committee assignments. If a bill is never assigned to a committee, it is dead in the water. (HB2016 text here.)

HCM2006 is a memorandum to the federal government asking that the ratification deadline be extended. HCM2006 has 19 sponsors, including two Republicans. The bill has been assigned to the Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility Committee (FFR) but hasn't made it on the committee's agenda… yet. (More about the committee here. HCM2006 text here.)

Bills can be killed in multiple ways: they can be voted down in committee, voted down by the Legislature, or just plain ignored by the Speaker or the committee chair. Although it's early in the session, it appears as if the ERA bills are being ignored– even though the ERA has bipartisan support in the Legislature and broad, popular support among the majority of Americans. (Sponsor list after the jump.)