Blog Post 2.3 - ERA is Back
1. What changed about Virginia's government in last week's elections?
The Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate in Virginia.
2. What would the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in 1972 do?
The ERA, an amendment that guarantees equal rights regardless of sex, passed Congress on a bipartisan basis in 1972 and requires 38 states to ratify it in order to become part of the Constitution.
3. How many states ratified the amendment when it was originally proposed? What states have ratified it recently?
35 states ratified it quickly. However, it took 40 years for a 36th state — Nevada — to ratify the ERA in 2017, and then Illinois became the 37th state in 2018.
4. According to the constitution, why is it necessary to have a 38th state ratify the amendment?
It required 38 states so that it will be in the clear majority.
5. What stipulation for its ratification did Congress add to the proposal in the 1970s?
The amendment gained momentum in the 1960s and ’70s, culminating with passage in the US Senate and the House of Representatives in 1972, which put it on track to become what would have been the 27th Amendment in the Constitution. It was sent to the states for ratification and put on a seven-year deadline.
6. How did the Virginia legislature vote on ratification of the ERA last year?
Virginia got close to ratifying the ERA last year, but the GOP-controlled legislature ultimately rejected it.
7. How can Congress change the ratification deadline from 1982 to now?
Congress originally set a 1979 deadline, and when that date hit, the amendment only had 35 ratifications. Congress extended the deadline to 1982, but it missed that as well.
8. How does the 27th Amendment provide an example that this amendment could be ratified now?
In 1982, an undergraduate student, Gregory Watson, figured out that the amendment could still be ratified and started what would eventually become a successful grassroots campaign to ratify, in 1992, the 27th Amendment.
The Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate in Virginia.
2. What would the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in 1972 do?
The ERA, an amendment that guarantees equal rights regardless of sex, passed Congress on a bipartisan basis in 1972 and requires 38 states to ratify it in order to become part of the Constitution.
3. How many states ratified the amendment when it was originally proposed? What states have ratified it recently?
35 states ratified it quickly. However, it took 40 years for a 36th state — Nevada — to ratify the ERA in 2017, and then Illinois became the 37th state in 2018.
4. According to the constitution, why is it necessary to have a 38th state ratify the amendment?
It required 38 states so that it will be in the clear majority.
5. What stipulation for its ratification did Congress add to the proposal in the 1970s?
The amendment gained momentum in the 1960s and ’70s, culminating with passage in the US Senate and the House of Representatives in 1972, which put it on track to become what would have been the 27th Amendment in the Constitution. It was sent to the states for ratification and put on a seven-year deadline.
6. How did the Virginia legislature vote on ratification of the ERA last year?
Virginia got close to ratifying the ERA last year, but the GOP-controlled legislature ultimately rejected it.
7. How can Congress change the ratification deadline from 1982 to now?
Congress originally set a 1979 deadline, and when that date hit, the amendment only had 35 ratifications. Congress extended the deadline to 1982, but it missed that as well.
8. How does the 27th Amendment provide an example that this amendment could be ratified now?
In 1982, an undergraduate student, Gregory Watson, figured out that the amendment could still be ratified and started what would eventually become a successful grassroots campaign to ratify, in 1992, the 27th Amendment.
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