When Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1972, they attached an arbitrary deadline to it, which is not required by the constitution. They set the deadline for 1979. It was extended once, again by Congress, to 1982. When the extended deadline expired, the ERA fell just three states short of ratification. In a renewed push for the ERA, those three ratifications came through: Nevada ratified the ERA in 2017, Illinois followed suit in 2018 and Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA in January 2020. Congress should eliminate the deadline.
Kansas ratified the ERA in March of 1972. Please continue what Kansas started and join me in urging Congress to pass S.J. Res. 1 and H.J. Res 17, a joint resolution to eliminate the deadline, and let’s make 2021 the year for equality.
