EQUAL RIGHTS = BETTER FUTURE�THE FEDERAL EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT�What’s Congress Got To Do With It?

Katherine Cleland

Zonta Club

of North Puget Sound

Deborah Allen

Zonta Club of Traverse City

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Zonta USA Caucus

ERA committee Co-chairs

THE TIME IS NOW �To Continue The Fight

I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change …

I am changing the things I cannot accept.

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~ Angela Davis, feminist, political activist, philosopher, author, academic

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FEDERAL EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT�28^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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Section One: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

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Section Two: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

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���With Virginia, ERA was ratified by 38 states

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3/4 (38) of the states must ratify the amendment

2/3 vote by U. S. House and Senate in favor of proposed amendment

The ERA passed the House in 1971, Senate in 1972 and

was ratified by 38 States in 2020.

No Time Limit On Equality

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• In 2017, 2018, and 2020, Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia ratified the ERA, meeting the requirement of 38 states.
• In 2020, the U.S. House passed an ERA Joint Resolution – and again a second time

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• In 2023, a federal appeals judge wrote that only Congress has authority over the ratification process, opening the door for Congress to recognize the ERA as ratified notwithstanding any time limits.

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�Congress Can Fix the Impass

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Under Article V of the Constitution, the Congress and States have the authority to Amend – the president has no role…and cannot veto the ERA Joint Resolution.

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2024 PRESIDENT BIDEN DECLARED THE ERA �The Law of The Land

But the Archivist did not certify ERA as in the Constitution, thus creating confusion about its status. A statement by the Archivist in 2024 read: At this time, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) cannot be certified as part of the Constitution due to established legal, judicial, and procedural decisions. In 2020 and again in 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice affirmed that the ratification deadline established by Congress for the ERA is valid and enforceable. The OLC concluded that extending or removing the deadline requires new action by Congress.

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TEXT OF CURRENT HOUSE AND SENATE �JOINT RESOLUTIONS

Senate Joint Resolution 38

(Sen. Murkowski, R-AK)

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House Joint Resolution 80

(Rep. Pressley, D-MA)

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Power to the People: �Put the ERA in the Constitution ACTION:

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Elect Equality

Elect Candidates that support the Equal Right Amendment

www.eracoalition.org/electequality

Demand the ERA - First 100 days

-One Million Signatures Sign4ERA petition

-Direct requests to Candidates (<Nov 3)

-Direct requests to Electeds (> Nov. 4th)

-Increasing demands for the ERA once Congress is Seated. (Jan 19th +).

ZONTA ERA-ACTION

toolkit www.zontausa.org/era-action

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SOME TOOLKIT ELEMENTS : FLYERS, BUS. CARDS, TABLE TENTS, BUTTONS, STAMP KITS,

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ZONTA USA ERA-TOOLKIT�WWW.ZONTAUSA.ORG/ERA-TOOLKIT

Everything you and your club need to take positive action on the ERA

www.zontausa.org/era-toolkit

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And Remember, It’s Impossible Until It’s Done

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Carolyn Maloney

Member of Congress 1993 – 2023

Founder, Sign4ERA ~ President, NOW New York State

Help Spread the Word: Education is Advocacy

Send Emails, Add to Your Signature, Amplify on Social Media

Available in the Toolkit:

Email Messages your club can add to your newsletter

Email Signature suggestions

Follow on Social Media

@ZontaUSA

@Sign4ERA

@ERACoalition

Like, Comment and Share social media posts

Comment 5-10 words, then share to your club page or to your friends

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ZONTA USA CLUBS IN ACTION

Zonta Club of Corvallis - Farmer’s Market Signature gathering

Zonta Club of Olympia � -ERA Women’s Forum

Zonta Club of Traverse City� -meeting with AAUW

Zonta Club of Trenton Mercer - Visit to Alice Paul Center

Zonta Club of NYC - Social Media Campaign

Send us what your club is doing era@zontausa.org

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Why the ERA Section - A deeper dive as to why the ERA matters so much

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�Why ERA? ERA SECTION ONE:�Eliminate Existing Sex Discrimination

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Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Works to ELIMINATE existing sex discrimination in federal and state laws:

• Wage Gap and Lifetime Earnings
• Social Security system
• Veteran Benefits
• Pink Taxes
• International Trade Agreements
• Federal and State Taxes
• Retirement Plans
• Regulated Car and Life Insurance
• And more….

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Why ERA? GENDER PAY GAP�More Than A Year, It’s A Lifetime

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The Pay Gap costs a woman roughly half a million dollars over her lifetime and for many women of color, more than $1 million.

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For two consecutive years the Gender Pay Gap widened, the first such back-to-back increase in many decades.

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Among full-time, year-round workers, women were paid:

84¢ for every dollar paid to men in 2022 … 83¢ in 2023… 81¢ in 2024

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For Black women, that figure drops to 65 cents, a gap of $28,340 a year.

For Latinas, 58 cents, a gap of $33,620 a year.

Why ERA? ERA SECTION TWO:�Equality Now & For Future Generations

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The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Provides GUARD RAILS against challenges to existing laws and passing new ones that:

• Protect Title VII on employment, Title IX on education, and other existing laws from rollbacks, or worse, elimination by the Supreme Court
• Restore and expand reproductive rights
• Reinstate provisions of the Violence Against Women Act on individual action against sexual and physical abusers
• Prevent more rollbacks on LGBTQ+

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�Why ERA? STOP �THREATS AGAINST WOMEN & GENDER EQUALITY

• STOP ENFORCEMENT AND OVERSIGHT of current laws affecting women’s rights on education, employment, credit, pregnancy disability, women peace and security, research and more.
• STOP THREATS to Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare; the availability of safe and legal abortion; birth control; women’s ability to vote; reproductive healthcare; ending sexual assault and physical violence.
• STOP ONGOING ELIMINATION OF FUNDING proposals for Title IX programs, student loans, sex education, gender-affirming care, data collection and scientific research on women, and more.
• STOP BANS on books and educational programs and information on DEI, gender, feminism and transgender issues.

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Why ERA? THE A-B-C’s FOR THE E-R-A�What Equality Means In Real Life

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• E = Economic Security and Education Equity

Equality affects your wallet. Education affects your future.

Equal pay for equal work ~ Protection from pregnancy discrimination and Caregiving penalties ~ The Million Dollar Wage Gap over a Lifetime ~ Wealth inequality ~ Opportunity to advance at work ~ Educational Equity

Equality will show up in your paycheck, your promotion opportunities, and your retirement security.”

• R = Rights

Individual Rights, personal freedoms and legal protections including reproductive justice. Protection from discrimination ~ Legal rights from sexual assault and sex trafficking ~ Preventing rights from being rolled back

Your rights shouldn’t depend on your gender—or who happens to be in power.

• A = Accountability

Equality must be enforceable. Constitutional protections matter with the strongest legal standards to hold institutions accountable ~ Ensures equality isn’t optional

Without accountability, equality becomes a promise rather than a guarantee.

• 15-Second Version: “The ERA means economic security, rights, and accountability—because equality affects your paycheck, your freedoms, and your future.”
• 5-Second Version: “Economic security. Rights. Accountability. That’s what equality looks like.

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OUR LEGACY

I never thought in my lifetime, I would have more rights than my two daughters.

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And Remember, It’s Impossible Until It’s Done

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Carolyn Maloney

Member of Congress 1993 – 2023

Founder, Sign4ERA ~ President, NOW New York State

Background and Backup

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ERA Centennial Convention - Seneca Falls, NY - July 2023

�WITH ERA…OR …TODAY WITHOUT ERA

Under the ERA, sex would be a suspect classification and claims of discrimination would be subject to strict judicial scrutiny resulting in more desirable court decisions on pay equity, sexual violence, reproductive justice, gender biases, and more. Today, such claims are subject only to a lesser intermediate scrutiny.

Today, courts can interpret laws narrowly, strip away any effectiveness or reverse long standing precedents as was done when the Supreme Court reversed Roe in the Dobbs decision; and without an ERA Joint Resolution, the Supreme Court could rule the ratification process must begin again with a 2/3rds vote in Congress and ratification by 3/4ths of the States.

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No Time Limit On Equality

• Congress set an arbitrary time limit for states to ratify, originally by 1979; they subsequently extended it until 1982.

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• In 1982 the ERA was 3 states short of full ratification.

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THE TIME IS NOW … THE WHO IS WE

Never doubt that a thoughtful, committed group of citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

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~ Margaret Mead, author and anthropologist

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2026: CO-SPONSORS OF JOINT RESOLUTIONS�A Practice Run For 2027

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House of Representatives:

House Joint Resolution 80

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ALL DEMOCRATS

1 Republican