To be on the statewide ballot in 2020 the proposed Constitutional amendment needs a simple majority in both the Minnesota House and Senate.
 
Lisa Stratton, a legal expert in gender discrimination, testified that enshrining gender equality in Minnesota’s Constitution would make it clear to the courts that they need to apply the highest level of scrutiny to laws that create or reinforce gender disparities. It would also make clear that such laws must be justified by a compelling state interest and the law under review must be found to be necessary. This standard would place gender equality on the same footing as racial and religious equality.
 
Adding an equal protection clause to the Constitution is another step forward in Minnesota’s long journey towards becoming a place that embraces the diversity and uniqueness of its people. As Jettie Ann Hill, a 26-year state employee and member of the MN Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) said, “Now is the time for Minnesota to begin closing the gap and recognizing the intersection between race and gender by adding the ERA to the state Constitution.”
 
The amendment would have a positive benefit to Minnesota’s economy and help to reduce the pay gap between men and women. Hill continued, “It is well documented that Black, Latino, American Indian, and other women of color in Minnesota face complex economic inequalities, and more training and education does not lead to the same economic payoff as men.”
 
Some of the most powerful testimony was given by MatasCastillo who spoke to her experience as a survivor of sexual assault in the military and to being recognized as the first woman to hold positions traditionally held by men.
 
“I was proud to blaze a trail that others could follow, but if I am honest, I never asked to serve as an exemplar of my gender, but only to serve. They call that a privilege, but it would be a far greater privilege to live in a world where women did not need to prove the worth of their gender to earn the respect given as a matter of course to men.”
 
Pheng Thao, the Statewide Coordinator for Men and Masculine Folks Network, spoke to the amendment’s ability to help change our culture for the better, highlighting the tragic fact that one in three women and girls in Minnesota experience gender violence in their lifetime. Thao went on to say, “We live in a culture where we are still teaching our boys and young men rigid ideas about manhood – dominant, strong-willed, emotionless – and that women and girls are there to serve their needs.”

PRESS Release:  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   January 24, 2019
Contact:   Heather Allison (651) 214-1702 heather@eramn.org
                    Betty Folliard  (612) 868-3511 betty.folliard@gmail.com
                
The ERA is in the House
                   
ST PAUL, MINN – ERA Minnesota (ERA MN www.eramn.org) is thrilled to announce that for the first time in decades the Minnesota House will hold hearings on Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) bills today -- January 24th, 2019 before the Government Operations Committee, SOB Room 10 at 9:45 AM.
 
There are two ERA bills to be heard in the Government Operations Committee that day: first (HF13), a Minnesota State ERA amendment to the state constitution bill chief-authored by Representative Mary Kunesh-Podein; and second (HF71), is a Resolution to Congress to remove the deadline on the federal ERA chief-authored by Representative Rena Moran. Both bills have companion bills introduced today in the Senate: the MN State ERA SF200 (Cohen) and the ERA Resolution to Congress SF208 (Pappas).
 
HF13/SF200 -- the constitutional amendment -- would  provide for gender equality under the law and proposes a constitutional amendment that, if passed by both bodies of the Minnesota Legislature, would be added to the ballot in the 2020 general election for the voters to decide on the outcome. 2020 has special significance because it coincides with the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage – the year women achieved the right to vote.
 
“This state ERA is long overdue,” says Heather Allison, President of ERAMN. “25 states already have passed ERA’s into their state constitutions – the oldest having been written over 140 years ago.”
 
HF71/SF208 is a resolution memorializing Congress to remove the “June 30th 1982” deadline  so that once the 38th state ratifies the ERA it can be ratified into the U.S. Constitution.
 
“95% of Minnesotans believe everyone should have equal rights,” said Betty Folliard, Founder of ERAMN. “We’re grateful to the Legislature for this opportunity to make equal legal.”
 
ERA Minnesota is a coalition of thousands of activists and organizations from every corner of the state dedicated to embedding an Equal Rights Amendment into our state and national constitutions to ensure that all citizens are protected from discrimination on the basis of sex.
 
“Pay inequity, workplace gender discrimination, domestic violence, rape & campus sexual assault, female poverty, pregnancy discrimination, and laws that unjustly affect men will all be helped by an ERA;” says M. Kathleen Murphy, VP of ERAMN & Founder of CAFE Coalition; “that’s why the ERA is so badly needed.”

ERA Minnesota is a coalition of thousands of activists and organizations from every corner of the state dedicated to embedding an Equal Rights Amendment into our state and national constitutions to ensure that all citizens are protected from discrimination on the basis of sex. 

PRESS ADVISORY: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 18, 2019
Contact: Heather Allison (651) 214-1702, Heather@eramn.org
                 Betty Folliard (612) 868-3511, betty.folliard@gmail.com
 
Brand New Day for the ERA
ST PAUL, MINN
–
ERA Minnesota (ERAMN www.eramn.org) is thrilled to announce that for the first time in decades the Minnesota House will hold hearings on Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) bills next Thursday January 24th, 2019 in the State Office Building, basement-Room 10 at 9:45 a.m.
 
There are two ERA bills to be heard in the Government Operations & Veterans Affairs Committee that day: first (HF13), a Minnesota State ERA amendment to the state constitution bill chief-authored by Representative Mary Kunesh-Podein; and second (HF71), is a Resolution to Congress to remove the deadline on the federal ERA chief-authored by Representative Rena Moran. Both bills have companion bills introduced today in the Senate: the MN State ERA SF200 (Cohen) and the ERA Resolution to Congress SF208 (Pappas).
 
HF13/SF200 provides for gender equality under the law and proposes a constitutiona amendment that, if passed by both bodies of the Minnesota Legislature, would be added to the ballot in the 2020 general election for the voters to decide on the outcome. 2020 has special significance because it coincides with the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage – the year women achieved the right to vote.
 
“This state ERA is long overdue, says Heather Allison, President of ERAMN. “25 states already have passed ERA’s into their state constitutions – the oldest having been written over 140 years ago.”
 
HF71/SF208 is a resolution memorializing Congress to remove the “June 30th, 1982” deadline so that once the 38th state ratifies the ERA it can be ratified into the U.S. Constitution.
 
“95% of Minnesotans believe everyone should have equal rights,” said Betty Folliard, Founder of ERAMN. “We’re grateful to the Legislature for this opportunity to make equal legal.”
 
ERA Minnesota is a coalition of thousands of activists and organizations from every corner of the state dedicated to embedding an Equal Rights Amendment into our state and national constitutions to ensure that all citizens are protected from discrimination on the basis of sex. This organization is a sponsor of Women’s March Minnesota's (www.womensmarchmn.com) “Unstoppable” Rally & March this Saturday. The Equal Rights Amendment is part of Women’s March’s Unity Principles.
 
“Pay inequity, gender discrimination in the workplace, gender violence including domestic violence and sexual  assault, and, primarily, gender fairness in our court system are the main reasons why the state ERA is still necessary.” says M. Kathleen Murphy, VP of ERAMN & Founder of the MN CAFE Coalition.
 
#####
 
ERA Bill Numbers: HF13/SF200; and HF71/SF208. For more information, go to www.eramn.org

Yes, Virginia, we do need an ERA!
by Renee Cardarelle

This week, Virginia’s Senate Rules Committee voted against moving the ratification of the ERA out of committee and House Privileges and Elections Committee refused to vote on moving the bill out committee. According to Equal Means Equal the committee room was packed with ERA supporters who kept the pressure on legislators to vote on the ERA. Considerable delay tactics were used to prevent a vote, including lumping the bill in with other legislation, delaying the bill discussion by focusing on other matters, refusing to discuss the bill, (in the House) refusing to vote on the bill and suggesting that this matter should be decided in the courts. Despite considerable delay tactics the ERA supporters finally succeeded in pushing the Senate committee to vote. The bill was defeated 5 to 9.


While the effort to ratify the ERA in Virginia did not succeed this year, it is only a temporary setback. The movement in Virginia is strong and will continue.
 
It’s not all bad news out there! Arizona, Illinois and Missouri are also working to ratify the ERA and there are efforts nationwide to revive this important legislation. Most importantly, on March 22, 2017, forty-five years after the ERA passed out of Congress to go to the states for ratification, Nevada ratified it. State Sen. Pat Spearman of Las Vegas stated, “It’s about Equality, period” Nevada is the first state to ratify the amendment since 1977. Only two more states are needed to ratify the amendment.
In addition to efforts of ratification in states that have not yet done so, states across the US are also working on resolutions to remove the deadline date that was placed on the ERA. This deadline was only the second time a deadline was applied to an amendment in the history of the US.