North Carolina is one of the states that has not yet ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Bills (H B 271 and SB 184) proposed April 5, 2019 were both sent to the Judiciary Committee in the House and the Rules Committee in the Senate; neither bill was sent to the floor prior to the end of the session. The short session beginning in April 2020 does not hold much promise for further action on the ERA, but the legislature returns again in the fall when interest in the passage of the ERA in NC may be renewed.
Support for this amendment has been part of the AAUW Public Policy Principles for nearly 50 years. In recent years, it has also been part of the Biennial Action Priorities. The January 2020 Gender Policy Agenda continues to reflect support for this continued endeavor.
AAUW of North Carolina joined with other organizations in the ERA-NC Alliance and NC NOW to put up four ERA-themed billboards to
- raise awareness across the state of the importance of ratifying the ERA and
- encourage the North Carolina General Assembly to finally bring the ratification bills out of committee for consideration on the floor of the NC House and Senate.
Our thanks to Sen. Floyd B. McKissick, Jr., and Rep. Carla D. Cunningham who have been primary sponsors of the ratification bills in the last few sessions of the NCGA. We are pleased to see that for the 2019-2020 session the bills SB184 and HB271 have additional sponsors and co-sponsors. All the Democrats in both houses signed on as either sponsors or co-sponsors of these bills. There is a continued need for having Republican sponsors join this effort if the ERA is to secure ratification in our state.