SLS 19RS-2 ENGROSSED
2019 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 2
BY SENATORS MORRELL, BISHOP, CARTER AND PETERSON AND
REPRESENTATIVES BOUIE AND LEGER
WOMEN. Provides for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To provide for ratification by the Legislature of Louisiana of the amendment to the
3 Constitution of the United States relative to equal rights for men and women and to
4 memorialize Congress to remove or extend in perpetuity the 1982 ratification
5 deadline in the resolving clause, if Congress deems this necessary in order for the
6 Equal Rights Amendment to be added to the Constitution of the United States.
7 WHEREAS, the Ninety-second Congress of the United States of America at the
8 second session, in both houses, by a constitutional majority of two-thirds thereof, adopted
9 the following proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States of America in the
10 following words, to wit:
11 "Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to equal
12 rights for men and women: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
13 United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring
14 therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the
15 United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution
16 when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years
17 from the date of its submission by the Congress:
18 "ARTICLE _______
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SLS 19RS-2 ENGROSSED
1 "Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the
2 United States or by any State on account of sex.
3 "Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
4 the provisions of this Article.
5 "Section 3. This Amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification";
6 and
7 WHEREAS, the United States Congress accepted as valid the Twenty-seventh
8 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, referred to as the Madison Amendment,
9 relating to Compensation of Members of Congress, 202 years from the date of its proposal
10 by the First Congress and recently ratified by three-fourths of the states and certified by the
11 United States Archivist as the Twenty-seventh Amendment on May 18, 1992; and
12 WHEREAS, the restricting time limit for the Equal Rights Amendment ratification
13 is in the 1972 Congressional joint resolution's resolving clause and is not a part of the
14 amendment proposed by Congress; and
15 WHEREAS, having passed a time extension for the Equal Rights Amendment on
16 October 20, 1978, Congress has demonstrated that a time limit in a resolving clause can be
17 adjusted or eliminated altogether if it is not part of the proposed amendment; and
18 WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in Coleman v. Miller, 307 U.S. 433,
19 (1939), recognized that Congress is in a unique position to judge the tenor of the nation, to
20 be aware of the political, social, and economic factors affecting the nation, and to be aware
21 of the importance to the nation of the proposed amendment; and
22 WHEREAS, if an amendment to the Constitution of the United States has been
23 proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the state
24 legislatures, it is for Congress under the principles of Coleman v. Miller to determine the
25 validity of the state ratifications occurring after the expiration of a time limit originally
26 appearing in the 1972 Congressional joint resolution's resolving clause and not in the
27 Proposed Equal Rights Amendment itself; and
28 WHEREAS, the Equal Rights Amendment has already been ratified by thirty-seven
29 states, two of which ratified the amendment after the resolving clause ratification deadline
30 had passed, Nevada on March 22, 2017 and Illinois on May 30, 2018; and
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1 WHEREAS, constitutional equality for women and men continues to be timely in the
2 United States and worldwide, and a number of other nations have achieved constitutional
3 equality for their women and men.
4 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
5 ratify the foregoing proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States of
6 America.
7 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Legislature does hereby
8 memorialize the United States Congress, to remove or extend in perpetuity the ratification
9 deadline stated in the 1972 Congressional joint resolution's resolving clause on the Equal
10 Rights Amendment, if Congress deems this necessary in order for the Equal Rights
11 Amendment to be added to the Constitution of the United States.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution shall be
13 forwarded by the Louisiana Secretary of State to the Archivist of the United States (pursuant
14 to Public Law No. 98-497), to the President and Secretary of the United States Senate and
15 to the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Leonore Heavey.
DIGEST
SCR 2 Engrossed 2019 Regular Session Morrell
Ratifies amendment to the U.S. Constitution providing for equal rights as follows:
(1)Equality of rights under law shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or any state
on account of sex.
(2)Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions
hereof.
(3)This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
Memorializes Congress to remove or extend in perpetuity the ratification deadline stated in
the 1972 Congressional joint resolution's resolving clause, but not in the amendment itself,
if it deems necessary, for the Equal Rights Amendment to be added to the Constitution of
the United States.
Summary of Amendments Adopted by Senate
Committee Amendments Proposed by Senate Committee on Senate and
Governmental Affairs to the original bill
1. Makes technical changes to allow the resolution to comport to the Joint
Resolution approved by the 92
nd
Congress on March 22, 1979.
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