ACTION NEEDED:
The Illinois Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments is scheduled to hold a hearing on Tuesday, April 25th at 3:30 pm. to consider whether Illinois should ratify the Equal Right Amendment (ERA).
Please use the following instructions to file a witness slip as a
proponent of SJRCA4 before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday April 25th.
TO FILE A WITNESS SLIP:
- Click on this link: http://bit.ly/2pYBoN6 and file the slip as a PROPONENT OF SJRCA4.
- Identification Section: Fill out the identification section with your information. For the Firm/business or agency and Title fields, write self.
- Representation section: Fill in NA or self.
- In the Position section, the only choice from the Description dropdown is "Original Bill", so just check PROPONENT.
- Complete the Testimony section. Check the "Record of Appearance Only" box. This will allow your position on the piece of legislation known without having to physically appear.
- Type in what is displayed in the CAPTCHA box.
- Click in the box next to "I Agree to the ILGA Terms of Agreement."
- Click Create (SLIP).
WHY IT MATTERS:
The Constitution of the United States does not explicitly guarantee that the rights it protects are held equally by all citizens regardless of sex. The ERA would remedy that inequality.
Introduced into every Congress between 1923 and 1972, the ERA was passed on March 22, 1972 and sent to states for ratification. To succeed in ratification, the Amendment needs 38 states to do so. On March 22, 2017 (45 years after Congress passed it), Nevada became the 36th state to ratify.
Illinois should join Nevada and become the 37th state to ratify. If that were to happen, only one more state would be needed.
The following states have not ratified the ERA: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.
- Illinois was the 1st state east of the Mississippi to grant women the suffrage in state elections.
- Illinois was the 1st state to ratify the 19th Amendment.
