ERA Minnesota
"Equality under the law shall not be abridged or denied on account of gender."
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Adding an ERA to the Minnesota Constitution

Our goal is to get an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) on the Minnesota ballot for the November 3, 2020 state wide election.  ​The amendment simply reads:
​ "Equality under the law shall not be abridged or denied on account of gender."

​ERA Minnesota Campaign
  1. With a unified, diverse collaboration of members, ERA Minnesota will mount an effective public awareness campaign.
  2. We will develop an effective legislative strategy with House and Senate leadership to ensure passage out of both bodies during the legislative session. 
  3. We will educate voters statewide about the fact that we still need equal protection embedded in our state and federal constitutions.​

 How to Amend the State Constitution - Simplified:
  • A bill is drafted by one or more members of the House or Senate and is introduced to the General Register. A similar bill must be introduced in the opposite chamber to be considered an active bill. 
  • The bills then go to specific committee(s)* in each chamber for debate and possible amendments to the language.
  • If it passes in all the necessary committees, it will move to the full Senate and House to be discussed and voted on. This is called the floor vote.
  • If it passes by a simple majority of both chambers (House & Senate), and has the exact same language, then it will be added to the state wide ballot for voters to ratify. 
  • If the language of the bill has changed in one chamber, then the bills move to "conference committee" to decide on one version of the final language. Once the language is the same, then each chamber votes again on the final bill. If it passes with a simple majority, then it will be added to the ballot in the next statewide election.
  • If a majority of voters vote  "Yes" it becomes an amendment to the state constitution. ​Caveat: if a voter ignores or skips voting on the amendment, it is considered a "No" vote.
​​​
*Committees for MN Equal Rights Amendment: 
  • House: 
    1.  
    Government Operations Committee  (PASSED!  1/24/19)
    2. State Government Finance Committee (PASSED!  2/7/19)
    3. Rules Committee
  • Senate:
    1. Judiciary & Public Safety Committee
  • Members:  See below.
​​
^FYI:  Simple Majority vs Majority
  • Simple Majority is more Yeses then Nos of legislators actually voting on the issue -- if someone doesn't vote (e.g. they aren't there or they abstain) it doesn't count.  So it is important that your representative is on the floor and votes Yes.
  • Majority is more Yeses then Nos of all voters at the polls, with unmarked ballots counting as a No -- so be sure to vote Yes and be counted!
​
Scroll down to the end to learn more about amending the constitution.
The 2019-2020 Legislation
Senate File 200 (SF200) & House File 13 (HF13) -  A state constitutional amendment providing gender equality under the law with chief author State Senator Richard Cohen and the companion bill with chief author State Representative Mary Kunesh-Podein. 
Info: Senate File 200
Senate File 200
File Size: 201 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Info: House File 13
Expert Testimony
House File 13
File Size: 194 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Committees & Their Members
We must sit in on these committees to show there is citizen support for the ERA bills.

House  Committees

Government Operations 
Members: 19  (PASSED! 1/24/19)
Office: 509 State Office Building
Meets Tues. & Thurs @ 9:45 am
Basement hearing room 
  • Chair: Freiberg-DFL
  • Vice Chair: Sauke-DFL
  • Republican Lead: Zerwas-R
  • Bahner-DFL
  • Elkins-DFL
  • Gomez-DFL
  • Heinrich-R
  • Koegel-DFL
  • Layman-R
  • Lee-DFL
  • Lillie-DFL
  • Masin-DFL
  • Nash-R
  • Nelson-DFL
  • Pelowski-DFL
  • Quam-R
  • Theis-R
  • Vogel-R
  • West-R
Watch video clips of expert testimony presented to the committee.
Expert Testimony
State Government Finance Division
Members: 20  (PASSED! 2/7/19)
Office: 585 State Office Building
Meets Tues., Wed, Thurs @ 8:00 am
Basement hearing room 

Chair: Nelson-DFL
Vice Chair: Carlson, A.-DFL
Republican lead: Albright-R
  • Acomb-DFL
  • Elkins-DFL
  • Freiberg-DFL
  • Green-R
  • Hertaus-R
  • Huot-DFL
  • Kiel-R
  • Klevorn-DFL
  • Lippert-DFL
  • Long-DFL
  • Masin-DFL
  • Nash-R
  • Olson-DFL
  • Quam-R
  • Vogel-R
  • ex-officio Carlson, L.-DFL**
  • ex-officio Winkler-DFL**
Rules & Legislative Administration
Members: 19  (Scheduled for ?)
Office: 459 State Office Building
Meets: Call of the Chair

Chair: Winkler-DFL
Vice Chair: Her-DFL
Republican lead: Daudt-R
  • Albright-R
  • Baker-R
  • Becker-Finn-DFL
  • Carlson, L.-DFL
  • Drazkowski-R
  • Freiberg-DFL
  • Garofalo-R
  • Hassan-DFL
  • Howard-DFL
  • Lillie-DFL
  • Neu-R
  • Olson-DFL
  • O’Neill-R
  • Pelowski-DFL
  • Pinto-DFL
  • Schultz-DFL
2018: Committees & Members sitting on ERA in MN
File Size: 74 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Senate Committees

Senate Judiciary & Public Safety 
Members: 9
​Office: MN Senate Bldg (MSB), #3221, 
Meets Mon, Tues, Wed @ 1:00 -2:30 pm
​MSB Room 1100
  • Chair: Limmer-R
  • Vice Chair: Hall-R
  • Anderson, B.-R
  • Dziedzic-DFL
  • Ingebrigtsen-R
  • Johnson-R
  • Latz (L)-DFL
  • Pappas-DFL
  • Relph-R

FAQs

To learn more about issues and concerns about the ERA click on a question below.
Q:  HOW WOULD the ERA AFFECT Reproductive rights?
A: Women’s equality necessarily requires reproductive and bodily autonomy, and without control over our bodies, women cannot participate as full and equal citizens in this country. The concerns raised of expanding access to public funding of reproductive health care or abortion in Minnesota was settled in 1995 by the Supreme Court's constitutional ruling in Doe v. Gomez.  
Q: THE 14TH AMENDMENT, THE EQUAL protection clause, ALREADY PROVIDES EQUALITY,  isn't that enough?
A: Section 2 of the 14th Amendment specifically includes the word male citizen and male inhabitant three times and is very gender specific in its applicability to males. Female citizens and female inhabitants are not mentioned. A constitutional amendment (the Equal Rights Amendment) is needed to provide constitutionally protected gender equality for women. 

FYI: If women had been protected under Article XIV of the U.S. Constitution, then Article XIX - the 19th Amendment  - providing women the right to vote – would not have been necessary.
Q: DON’T WE ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH LAWS FOR WOMEN?
 A: We have laws that can be changed by a simple majority in either our legislatures, Congress or the courts.  Women and men do not have guaranteed protection against gender discrimination in our constitution -- and thus our country.

​The Equal Rights Amendment would add strict judicial protection and enforcement to existing legislation. Those elements named in the constitution, i.e. race, religion, and national origin, receive “strict scrutiny” in courts of law; but protection of gender against discrimination is not specified in the constitution, and thereby only receives “intermediate scrutiny”; resulting in unequal justice for women and men.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte once stated when explaining why she voted against The Equal Pay Act, "The reason that I voted against that specific bill is that, I looked at it, and there were already existing laws that need to be enforced".  Yet without the clear legal guidance provided by a Constitutional amendment, the incremental patchwork of laws addressing women, equal opportunity, and pay equity are "nails without a hammer".  

 Justice Scalia when asked why he voted against The Lilly Ledbetter Petition stated, "The Constitution does not prohibit discrimination based on sex, thus I was under no constitutional obligation to do so".
​Q: Does having an ERA benefit Taxpapers?  
A: Yes. Constitutionally guaranteed equality would reinforce existing laws and clarify women’s legal rights to economic and employment parity with men.  When women are paid less for the same job as men, or are denied equal opportunities for advancement, it damages our economy and our community. For too long women have been treated as ‘cheap labor’, underpaid for equal work. 

 When women’s salaries have neither parity with men’s salaries nor opportunity for advancement, government safety net programs such as SNAP (food stamps) and reduced-cost lunch programs are needed to make up the slack in wages. Better pay would help reduce the need (costs) of these programs. Women deserve the same dignity as men when providing for their families - without having to rely on government assistance to backfill the wage gap.
Q: IS THE ERA PARTISAN?
A: The ERA should not be partisan.  The fight for equality has a long bipartisan history and bipartisanship must be the key to success of its final ratification.
  • 94% of Americans polled believe women and men should have constitutionally guaranteed gender equality (an equal rights amendment);
  • 76% of Americans polled think we already have this in the Constitution;
  • Elected leaders who support and champion this legislation will enjoy vigorous public support by the voting public once the public made aware of the ongoing necessity for an ERA.  
  • The Equal Rights Amendment is important civil rights legislation that ensures unequivocal equality of all persons, regardless of gender, in the United States Constitution.  
Q: What is the complete text of the MinNesota ERA? 
A: Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged or denied on account of gender.​
Q: What is the History of the ERA?
A: The Equal Rights Amendment was written by Alice Paul in 1921 and first introduced by the Republican Party in 1923. It remained in the party platform until 1980. Presidents Ford and Nixon and their spouses vigorously supported ratifying the ERA. Alice Paul was a Republican.

The 19th amendment & the ERA - both written by Alice Paul and friends - have almost identical wording, with the substitution of only four words in the text. 19th Amendment reads: The right to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex;  the ERA reads: Equality of rights shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on of account sex. The Equal Rights Amendment was intended to follow the 19th amendment, not languish for 93 years.

Over the years, resistance to constitutional gender equality has changed but has continued to mirror its generation’s perceptions:
  • In the 1800's, women couldn't own property and were relegated to perpetual guardianship by their male family members.
  • From the 1920s to pre-WWII, it was "you have the vote, that's enough."
  • In the 1950's and 1960's, a female still could not have her own credit, sign a mortgage, or serve on a jury ("Mad Men culture").
  • In the 1970's resistance was built around women being forced to work out of the home, and being forced into the draft; unisex bathrooms;  fear of men not providing for their family, fear of female clergy; and women "losing femininity" and a "protected class."
Phyllis Schlafly and an organization called "The Eagle Forum" traveled throughout the South and other parts of the country, touting that the ERA was anti-American and anti-family and was largely responsible for ending the ERA push in the 70's. She was helped by Sam Ervin, a North Carolina Democrat who believed it was "folly to treat women and men legally equal." Sam Ervin unsuccessfully tried to pass a bill to make it illegal to draft women. Thus proving that the ERA has nothing to do with women being drafted, as Congress has always had the power to draft women if necessary.
​Q:  Will ERA affect Women in the Military?
A: Constitutionally protected gender equality would provide equal opportunity and redress to women bravely serving in the military. Currently women serve in combat positions – even without an equal rights clause in our constitution. Women can fight and die for their country but they do not have equal rights. One of the primary reasons for the ERA's failure in the 70's and early 80’s was never a legitimate concern - that women would be drafted.
​
Selective Service for women (The Draft): Congress has always had the right to draft women; passage of the ERA would not affect the draft.
​Q: Would the ERA force religions to ordain women?
A: No. Passage of the ERA would not require religions to ordain women, as the constitution provides for the separation of church and state. Religious freedom would be unaffected by the ratification of the ERA religious hierarchies would continue to be able to exercise their authority over religious matters.

Religious liberty falls under separation of church and state; for example: some churches reserve the right to not marry divorced persons or couples who don't complete premarital counseling etc. These decisions of churches will remain unaffected by constitutional gender equality.
​Q: Will women lose social security benefits?
A: No. The Widow benefit was converted to a survivor or spousal benefit (male or female) in the 1970s in anticipation of passage of the ERA, and it continues to be the standard to this day.
​Q:  Will the ERA cause unisex bathrooms?
A: Unisex bathrooms already exist at stores like Trader Joes, on airplanes, in many public buildings, restaurants, theatres, shopping centers, trains and bus stations - where single stall & family bathrooms are the norm. The ERA did not cause unisex bathrooms; they evolved over time as society found the necessity to provide them. This would not change with the passage of the ERA and is not a valid reason to deny constitutionally protected gender equality to the majority sex, as women are 52% of the U.S. population.
Learn more about Amending the Constitution:
Want to know even more?  Check out "Minnesota Constitutional Amendments: History and Legal Principals"

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  • Home
  • About
    • Minnesota ERA
    • Federal ERA
    • Our Allies
  • Lobbying 101
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  • Help Us
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  • News
    • Blog
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  • Resources
    • Expert Testimonies
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    • Links & Info
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