A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to RATIFY THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Whereas, Article V of the Constitution of the United States of America sets forth a two‑step amending process; and
Whereas, the first step of the Article V amending process is proposal of an amendment by two‑thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a convention called by application of two‑thirds of the States; and
Whereas, the 92nd Congress of the United States of America, at its second session, in both houses, by a constitutional majority of two‑thirds thereof, adopted the following proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States of America in the following words, to wit:
"JOINT RESOLUTION
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two‑thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three‑fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission by the Congress:
"ARTICLE ______
"Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
"Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
"Sec. 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."; and
Whereas, next, the second and final step of the Article V amending process is ratification of an amendment by three‑fourths of the States; and
Whereas, some forty‑eight years after the amendment was adopted by Congress, on January 27, 2020, Virginia became the 38th of the 50, or three‑fourths, of the States to ratify this federal Equal Rights Amendment; and
Whereas, in its distinct role as one of the original thirteen States, North Carolina participated in the 1787 federal Constitutional Convention and helped draft the precise text of the federal Constitution, including Article V which preserves States' rights to amend the document; and
Whereas, a demand for amendments to the federal Constitution in order to recognize individual rights is part of the patriotic heritage of the State of North Carolina; and
Whereas, James Madison and other leaders made clear to the state ratifying conventions for the federal Constitution that ratification cannot be conditioned on amendments and, once made, a ratification is final and cannot be rescinded; and
Whereas, at the state ratifying convention for the federal Constitution held in Hillsborough in summer of 1788, North Carolina delegates sought a bill of individual rights to be added to the federal Constitution and voted 184 to 84 to neither ratify nor reject the document; and
Whereas, as a consequence, North Carolina was one of only two original States not part of the then United States under the new federal Constitution at the end of 1788; and
Whereas, the comments and concerns of North Carolina informed James Madison when he drafted amendments preserving individual and States' rights; and
Whereas, those proposed twelve amendments were approved by the new Congress in September of 1789; and
Whereas, after those amendments were sent to the States for ratification, North Carolina ratified the federal Constitution at its second state ratifying convention in Fayetteville in November of 1789; and
Whereas, in December of 1789, North Carolina ratified all twelve of the amendments proposed by Congress; and
Whereas, because of North Carolina's initial refusal to ratify a federal Constitution without a bill of rights, we have our first ten amendments protecting individual rights at the national level; and
Whereas, another one of the twelve amendments ratified by North Carolina in December of 1789 was added to the federal Constitution over 200 years later, in 1992, when it became fully‑ratified by 38 of the 50, or three‑fourths, of the States; and
Whereas, that amendment, known as the Congressional Pay Amendment, is our 27th Amendment, because Article V of the federal Constitution does not limit the time for States to ratify an amendment; and
Whereas, adding a ratification time limit is itself an amendment to the Constitution and must be included within the text of an amendment in order to have effect; and
Whereas, the seven‑year ratification time frame included in the internal resolution Congress used to vote on the proposed Equal Rights Amendment is outside the text of the amendment and without legal effect; and
Whereas, having been fully‑ratified by three‑fourths of the States as of January 27, 2020, and with those ratifications as final and irrevocable under law, the Equal Rights Amendment is now our 28th Amendment to the federal Constitution, despite a failure to date of the federal government to comply with 1 United States Code 106b requiring official recognition of this constitutional act of the States; and
Whereas, North Carolina's own history has shown that a constitutional ratification is an important statement of States' rights at any time, as exemplified by the State's ratification of the 19th Amendment on May 6, 1971, 51 years after its ratification; and
Whereas, unlike other State constitutions, the North Carolina State Constitution does not include equal protection against sex discrimination; and
Whereas, in a 2020 poll by the Pew Research Center, about eight in ten Americans (78%) said they favored the federal Equal Rights Amendment, including majorities of men and women and Democrats and Republicans alike; and
Whereas, bipartisan support for the Equal Rights Amendment has continued to rise in North Carolina, with a 2023 Meredith Poll showing an increase of more than four percent of voters in support (to 71.5%), and opposition falling by more than three percent (to just 13.5%) compared to a 2019 poll; and
Whereas, the federal Equal Rights Amendment is a foundational constitutional guarantee in North Carolina and nationally, since it affirms that constitutional rights are held equally by all persons regardless of sex; and
Whereas, a recognition of individual rights, including equality of rights under the federal Constitution, is an essential addition to North Carolina's patriotic heritage; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The General Assembly of North Carolina hereby ratifies and affirms the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America set forth in this act.
SECTION 2.  A certified copy of this act shall be forwarded by the Governor of this State to the Archivist of the United States, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, and each member of the North Carolina congressional delegation.
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.