Fri, 01/22/2021 - 08:37
PUSH TO RATIFY EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT IN NC GAINS STEAM: Equal Rights Amendment supporters said Thursday it's still important for the North Carolina legislature to ratify the proposal for the sake of fair treatment for all women, even as ERA's future is being weighed by a court. General Assembly lawmakers and state and national ERA activists announced in an online news conference their redoubled efforts to bring ratification up for debate and votes this year. Democratic legislators said they plan to introduce such resolutions in the legislative session that begins in earnest next week. Republicans in charge of the General Assembly have been cool to acting on past such resolutions, but one expected bill sponsor said efforts to enshrine equal rights for women in the U.S. Constitution should be bipartisan. “It is time to guarantee equal pay, equal access and equal opportunity to everyone,” said Sen. Valerie Foushee, an Orange County Democrat.