Hello 11

Today the Virginia General Assembly voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment!!!!
We now have the required 38 states. This is too exciting!!

Last week I sent my ERA essay to all 140 legislators in Virginia: http://medium.com/@ekilcoyne10/thank-you-virginia-23e7c7cf078c
​I received many positive responses:

Elizabeth,
 
I will certainly support the passage of the ERA and will pay close attention to the developments on the national      level that may deem it necessary to reaffirm in future language.
 
Thanks,
Dave Marsden
Senator Dave Marsden
Virginia State Senate

And, this one:

Dear Elizabeth,

Thank you for sharing your concerns. Senator Chase does not support the so-called Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA bill is needless because women already have equal rights and moot because the proposed legislation has already expired. An equal rights amendment is already in the Constitution, found in the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection and due process.
 
God Bless,
 
Lauren Fulcher
Sr. Legislative Aide
Senator Amanda Chase
Senate District 11
[email protected]
804-698-7511

Yikes!!
 
The Virginia vote is a major step and there are many more that will prove as difficult. 
​
Just last month, three attorneys general filed a lawsuit to prevent the ERA from becoming the 28th Amendment to the Constitution. They are all men: 
 
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, and 
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.
 
Interestingly, Alabama and Louisiana did not ratify the amendment and South Dakota rescinded its ratification in 1979. I guess this is their way of saying they don’t like the process outlined in the US Constitution, so they’re filing suit.
 
The next step is to work on eliminating the timeframe for ratification in Congress.  Our divided congress must eliminate the ratification timeline that ran out in 1982. Stick with me. This could work. S.J.Res.6—A senate joint resolution removing the deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment was filed in January, 2019 by Sen. Benjamin Cardin, Dem, of Maryland. It was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. There it sits. 
 
In this divided congress, it requires a democratic majority in the Senate to get the dealine eliminated. The next step is to jump into the election process by volunteering, contributing funds and whatever it takes to elect democratic candidates. 
 
Please let me know your ideas. You can comment by clicking the comments button below.  ​

​Onward, Elizabeth