Assembly Resolution No. 168

BY: M. of A. Seawright

CALLING for ratification of the Equal Rights
Amendment

WHEREAS, The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly guarantee equal
rights to all persons regardless of sex; and

WHEREAS, The 19th Amendment, adopted in 1920, grants all citizens
the right to vote without abridgment or denial on account of sex; and

WHEREAS, The proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the
Constitution affirms that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of
sex"; and

WHEREAS, The ERA was written by suffragist leader Alice Paul and
introduced in Congress in 1923, was passed by Congress in 1972 with a
seven-year time limit, and after Congressional extension of the time
limit to June 30, 1982, has been ratified by 35 of the 38 states
necessary to put it into the Constitution; and

WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution imposes no time limit for
ratification of amendments; Supreme Court decisions have recognized the
power of Congress to determine the mode of ratification; and the 1992
ratification of the 27th ("Madison") Amendment 203 years after it was
first proposed supports the premise that state ERA ratification votes
since 1972 are sufficiently contemporaneous; and

WHEREAS, On Monday, March 20, 2017, the State of Nevada voted to
ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, leaving only two more states needed
for ratification; and

WHEREAS, Two processes are being proposed for ratification of the
ERA: (1) the traditional Article V passage by two-thirds votes in the
Senate and the House of Representatives followed by ratification by
three-quarters of the states, and (2) the "three-state strategy" of
overriding or removing the time limit via judicial and/or statutory
action and declaring the ERA to be part of the Constitution when three
more states ratify; and

WHEREAS, A leader in advocating for women's equality, New York State
has championed paid family leave, equal pay for equal work, and issues
that face pregnant women in the workforce; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
call on all members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in
the 115th Congress to co-sponsor, support, and pass into law joint
resolutions for both the traditional Article V ratification process
(S.J. Res. 16, H.J. Res. 33) and the "three-state strategy" process
(S.J. Res. 5, H.J. Res. 53); and be it further

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause further to affirm our
strong support of the Equal Rights Amendment and our commitment to put
the ERA into the Constitution; and be it further


RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the President of the Senate of the United States, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each member of the
Congress of the United States from the State of New York.