Virginia’s hopes of ERA ratification go down in flames this year
Shouting “Shame, shame!” and singing “We Shall Overcome,” more than 100 women’s rights activists from across Virginia poured into the state Capitol on Friday to try to force the legislature to take action on the federal Equal Rights Amendment.
canada goose clearance Dressed in period costumes and wearing colorful silk banners demanding “ERA 2018,” advocates hoped this year’s record number of female lawmakers, combined with the momentum of the MeToo movement, would propel the amendment forward in Virginia bringing the national effort just one shy of the 38 states needed for ratification. canada goose clearance
Canada Goose Outlet But their efforts failed in the canada goose coats GOP controlled legislature. One House committee refused to take up the matter, while a Senate panel defeated it 9 to Canada Goose sale 5, with all the no canadian goose jacket votes cast by men. Canada Goose Outlet
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Canada Goose online Both committee chairmen, Sen. Ryan T. McDougle (R Hanover) and Del. Mark L. Cole (R Spotsylvania), cited a technical reason for their opposition. They said the effort to seek ratification for the ERA was improper because the congressional deadline expired in 1982. Advocates argue that Congress could overturn or extend that deadline, and that the canada goose black friday sale General Assembly has a responsibility to take a stand on the proposal. Canada Goose online
Activists’ efforts won them a “show of hands” vote in the Senate Rules Committee after two Fairfax canada goose store Democrats, Sen. Janet D. Howell and Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, interceded when McDougle said he would hold only a voice vote on ratification. The vote failed 9 to 5, with Republican Sens. Thomas K. Norment Jr. (James City), Emmett W. Hanger Jr. (Augusta), Stephen D. Newman (Bedford), Frank M. Ruff Jr. (Mecklenburg), Frank W. Wagner (Virginia Beach), Mark D. Obenshain (Rockingham), William M. Stanley Jr. (Franklin), Charles W. Carrico Sr. (Grayson) and Bryce E. Reeves (Spotsylvania) voting no.
Activists from a variety of women’s organizations demonstrate for ratification of the federal Equal Rights Amendment outside the state Capitol in Richmond. (Patricia Sullivan/TWP)
Canada Goose Online Sens. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R Fauquier), Richard H. Stuart (R Stafford) and Mamie E. Locke (D Hampton) joined Howell and Saslaw on the losing side. Canada Goose Online
cheap canada goose uk Introduced 95 years ago by suffragist Canada Goose Jackets Alice Paul, the ERA would bar discrimination on account of sex. cheap canada goose uk
canada goose McDougle told the capacity crowd that an official at the National Archives and Records Administration advised him that the ERA is a “failed amendment” and therefore improper for the General Assembly to vote on it. canada goose
Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D Fairfax), sponsor of the Senate bill, argued that the archivist does not decide law. He pointed to an informal advisory from the state attorney general’s office that canada goose clearance said Congress has the power to extend the ratification deadline. Even without an extension, it is possible that the legislature’s ratification could be found valid, Canada Goose online depending on future congressional action, he said.
uk canada goose When McDougle tried to hold one vote on several measures including the ERA bill, Howell quickly separated the ERA vote. McDougle said it would be a voice vote only, with no individual votes recorded. The room immediately erupted with shouts and singing until McDougle agreed to ask for a show of hands. uk canada goose
Moments later, the same crowd crossed the Capitol hallway where a House committee was about to convene. Republican leaders of that panel decided against holding hearings on any of the three nearly identical ERA ratification bills submitted this year.
The protesters sat quietly through canada goose about 20 minutes of other business, holding up preprinted signs that read “Republican who remembers when this was a Republican ideal” and “Dads 4 Daughters.”
Canada Goose sale Then Del. Sam Rasoul (D Roanoke) requested that one of the ERA bills be added to the hearing. After a brief statement by him and Pat Fishback, a member of the League of Women Voters who has been working for the ERA for 40 years, Cole ruled the motion out of order because of the expired congressional deadline. Canada Goose sale
Again, the crowd shouted its dismay and warned that they would remember the vote at the polls.
canada goose uk outlet “Every year we’ve made more and more progress because of these wonderful activists,” Rasoul said later. “They should buy canada canada goose outlet goose jacket keep it up.” canada goose uk outlet
canada goose coats on sale Five times in the past seven years, cheap Canada canada-goose-outlet.biz Goose the Virginia Senate passed the ERA, but each time it languished in the House. This year, ERA activists bought three billboards on Interstate 95 pressing their case, took out newspaper ads and mailed 10,000 handwritten postcards. canada goose coats on sale
“We know the public interest is there, but the leadership in the legislature is choosing to ignore it,” said Eileen Davis, founder of Women Matter, one of myriad feminist organizations pushing for a vote. “Virginia has a state level ERA, but it has never ratified the federal ERA, which means we’re at odds with our own values.”
Canada Goose Jackets Congress passed the ERA in 1972 and sent it to the states for ratification. To be adopted, 38 of the 50 states needed to approve the measure by 1982, Congress said. At that time, only 35 states had ratified it, canada goose deals so the amendment never made it into the Constitution. Nevada ratified it last year, bringing the total to 36. Canada Goose Jackets
Activists dispute the notion that because the 1982 deadline has passed, the issue is dead. Numerous constitutional experts believe that Congress could extend the deadline again, even after a generation long lapse. Two bills have been introduced in Congress by Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D Md.) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D Calif.) to eliminate the deadline for ratification.
buy canada goose jacket cheap If that legislation passes, as long as 38 states ratify the amendment at any point, it would become part of the Constitution. Five states have voted to rescind their previous ratification votes, but it’s unclear whether that would affect the ratification tally. buy canada goose jacket cheap
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Activists also noted that the 27th Amendment, which bars Congress from voting on Canada Goose Parka its own pay raises, was ratified 202 years after it was first introduced. No ratification deadline was set for that measure.
Canada Goose Parka Surovell and Del. Alfonso H. Lopez (D Arlington), who sponsored one of the House bills, cited the influence of their mothers, who took them to ERA rallies when they were children, and called the ERA “unfinished family business.” Canada Goose Parka
Republican Del. Canada Goose Outlet Roxann L. Robinson (Chesterfield), sponsored another of the House ERA bills, as did Fairfax Democrat Kaye Kory.
“Whatever resistance there may be, it’s quiet obstruction, not loud or in your face,” said Sen. Jennifer T. Wexton (D Loudoun), chief co sponsor of the Senate ERA bill. “One thing people saw in the 2017 election is the power of women. No buy canada goose jacket cheap one wants to cross them overtly.”
“Women are pretty upset, and they’re voting, and elected officials are paying attention to that,” Surovell said. “Elected officials ignore angry women at their peril.”.