Bill Text: NJ SJR55 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges U.S. Congress to pass Equal Rights Amendment.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-03-11 - Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading [SJR55 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-SJR55-Introduced.html
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
No. 55
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 22, 2018
Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
Senator SANDRA B. CUNNINGHAM
District 31 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Cruz-Perez, Diegnan, Singleton, Sweeney and Stack
SYNOPSIS
Urges U.S. Congress to pass Equal Rights Amendment.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Joint Resolution urging the United States Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.
Whereas, The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women; and
Whereas, The ERA states: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex - the ERA establishes within the United States Constitution the unambiguous and unassailable rights of women under the law"; and
Whereas, New Jersey suffragist leader Alice Paul, who was instrumental in the passage of the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote, and Crystal Eastman authored the ERA in 1923. It was introduced for the first time in the United States Congress that same year; and
Whereas, In 1972, the ERA passed the United State Congress and was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. Congress set a ratification deadline of March 22, 1979, and through 1977, 35 of the required 38 states had ratified the amendment; and
Whereas, In 1978, a joint resolution of the United States Congress extended the deadline for ratification to June 30, 1982; and
Whereas, Five states rescinded their ratifications of the ERA prior to June 30, 1982, and no other states ratified the amendment between 1979 and the 1982 deadline. As a result, the ERA was not adopted as part of the Constitution; and
Whereas, The ERA has been reintroduced in every session of the United States Congress since 1982. The last time it received a floor vote in Congress was 1983; and
Whereas, On January 23, 2017 Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) reintroduced the ERA in the United States Congress; and
Whereas, Passage of the ERA by the United States Congress and its ratification by state legislatures would affirm this country's commitment to equal rights for women and introduce the idea of sex equality as a fundamental principle in the United States Constitution; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature hereby urges the United States Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment as reintroduced by Senators Bob Menendez, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Chris Coons, Dianne Feinstein, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Ed Markey in order to affirm this country's commitment to equal rights for women and to introduce the idea of sex equality as a fundamental principle in the United States Constitution.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the General Assembly to each member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges the United States Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment as reintroduced by Senators Bob Menendez, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Chris Coons, Dianne Feinstein, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Ed Markey in order to affirm this country's commitment to equal rights for women and to introduce the idea of sex equality as a fundamental principal in the United States Constitution.
