HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-20-2018 4-c - Resolution in Support of the Equal Rights Amendment
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 20, 2018
Action Agenda
Item No. 4-c
SUBJECT: Resolution in Support of the Equal Rights Amendment
DEPARTMENT: County Manager
ATTACHMENT(S):
Resolution in Support of the Equal Rights
Amendment
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bonnie Hammersley, 245-2300
PURPOSE: To consider a Resolution in Support of the Equal Rights Amendment.
BACKGROUND: At the March 8, 2018 Board meeting, the Board asked staff to present for
Board consideration a Resolution in support of the Equal Rights Amendment.
The Equal Rights Amendment affirmed the equal application of the Constitution to all citizens;
which read: "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every
place subject to its jurisdiction." The amendment was introduced in every session of Congress;
and was approved in reworded form by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on
March 22, 1972.
The proposed 27th Amendment to the Constitution was sent to the States for ratification, and fell
three states short of ratification; including the State of North Carolina. The State of Nevada
recently approved the amendment, becoming the 36th state to approve.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with considering the resolution.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following four Orange County Social Justice Goals are
applicable to this agenda item:
• GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND
INEQUITY
The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color;
religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or
ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic
status.
• CREATE A SAFE COMMUNITY
The reduction of risks associated with vehicle/traffic accidents, childhood and senior
injuries while building a safe, inclusive and loving community.
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• GOAL: ESTABLISH SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE LAND-USE AND
ENVIROMENTAL POLICIES
The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of people of all races, cultures, incomes
and educational levels with respect to the development and enforcement of
environmental laws, regulations, policies, and decisions. Fair treatment means that no
group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental
consequences resulting from industrial, governmental and commercial operation or
policies.
• GOAL: ENABLE FULL CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Ensure that Orange County residents are able to engage government through voting and
volunteering by eliminating disparities in participation and barriers to participation.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board consider approval of the
Resolution in support of the Equal Rights Amendment.
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RES-2018-018
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
WHEREAS, Orange County forthrightly supports equal rights for all residents of Orange
County; and
WHEREAS, women continue to confront a lack of political parity, workplace discrimination,
health care inequities, disparate rates of poverty, rape and domestic violence assaults; and
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution fails to guarantee explicitly that all rights that it
purports to protect are held equally by all residents without regard to sex; and
WHEREAS, the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment never has been interpreted to
guarantee equal rights for women; and
WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment [ERA] was drafted to help correct systemic
discrimination based on sex, i.e., by situating sex as a suspect category invoking strict judicial
scrutiny, as with race, national origin and religion; and
WHEREAS, the ERA was passed by Congress in 1972 and ratified by 35 of the 38 states
necessary to put it into the Constitution, yet was assumed to have expired in 1982; and
WHEREAS, Congress can alter time limits in the proposing clauses of amendments, and the
deadline for the ERA appeared only in the preamble as opposed to the actual legislation; and
WHEREAS, the State of Nevada became the 36th state to approve the ERA in 2017; and
WHEREAS, Senator Floyd B. McKissick, Jr. and Representative Carla Cunningham
introduced ERA ratification bills in the NC General Assembly in the 2017 long session, with
Senator Mike Woodard co-sponsoring the Senate bill and Representative Henry M. Michaux
co-sponsoring the House bill; and
WHEREAS, US Representative David Price, Representative Alma Adams, and Representative
G.K. Butterfield have previously co-sponsored bills in Congress to adopt an ERA, and to lift the
time limits on states for ratifying the ERA;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Orange County Board of County
Commissioners calls on the US Congress to pass into law a bill to adopt an Equal Rights
Amendment, or to remove the time limit for ratification of the ERA so that ratification shall be
achieved upon the affirmative vote of 38 states, of which 36 already have ratified; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners calls
on the NC General Assembly to pass into law a bill to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to
the United States Constitution as proposed by Congress on March 22, 1972.
This the 20th day of March 2018.
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