North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H500 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
2	2		SESSION 2025
3		-	H 1
4		-	HOUSE BILL 500
	3	+	H D
	4	+	HOUSE BILL DRH40253-LR-68A
	5	+
5	6
6	7
7	8		Short Title: NC Adopt ERA. (Public)
8		-	Sponsors: Representatives von Haefen, Cunningham, Price, and Prather (Primary
9		-	Sponsors).
10		-	For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
11		-	Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
12		-	March 26, 2025
13		-	H500 -v-1
	9	+	Sponsors: Representative von Haefen.
	10	+	Referred to:
	11	+
	12	+	DRH40253 -LR-68A
14	13		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
15	14		AN ACT TO RATIFY THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF 2
16	15		THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 3
17	16		Whereas, Article V of the Constitution of the United States of America sets forth a 4
18	17		two-step amending process; and 5
19	18		Whereas, the first step of the Article V amending process is proposal of an amendment 6
20	19		by two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a convention called by application of 7
21	20		two-thirds of the States; and 8
22	21		Whereas, the 92nd Congress of the United States of America, at its second session, in 9
23	22		both houses, by a constitutional majority of two-thirds thereof, adopted the following proposition 10
24	23		to amend the Constitution of the United States of America in the following words, to wit: 11
25	24		"JOINT RESOLUTION 12
26	25		"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 13
27	26		Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is 14
28	27		proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all 15
29	28		intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 16
30	29		of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission by the Congress: 17
31	30		"ARTICLE ______ 18
32	31		"Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United 19
33	32		States or by any State on account of sex. 20
34	33		"Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the 21
35	34		provisions of this article. 22
36	35		"Sec. 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."; and 23
37	36		Whereas, next, the second and final step of the Article V amending process is 24
38	37		ratification of an amendment by three-fourths of the States; and 25
39	38		Whereas, some forty-eight years after the amendment was adopted by Congress, on 26
40	39		January 27, 2020, Virginia became the 38th of the 50, or three-fourths, of the States to ratify this 27
41	40		federal Equal Rights Amendment; and 28
42	41		Whereas, in its distinct role as one of the original thirteen States, North Carolina 29
43	42		participated in the 1787 federal Constitutional Convention and helped draft the precise text of 30
44	43		the federal Constitution, including Article V which preserves States' rights to amend the 31
45	44		document; and 32
46	45		Whereas, a demand for amendments to the federal Constitution in order to recognize 33
47		-	individual rights is part of the patriotic heritage of the State of North Carolina; and 34 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
48		-	Page 2 House Bill 500-First Edition
	46	+	individual rights is part of the patriotic heritage of the State of North Carolina; and 34
	47	+	H.B. 500
	48	+	Mar 24, 2025
	49	+	HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
	50	+	Page 2 DRH40253-LR-68A
49	51		Whereas, James Madison and other leaders made clear to the state ratifying 1
50	52		conventions for the federal Constitution that ratification cannot be conditioned on amendments 2
51	53		and, once made, a ratification is final and cannot be rescinded; and 3
52	54		Whereas, at the state ratifying convention for the federal Constitution held in 4
53	55		Hillsborough in summer of 1788, North Carolina delegates sought a bill of individual rights to 5
54	56		be added to the federal Constitution and voted 184 to 84 to neither ratify nor reject the document; 6
55	57		and 7
56	58		Whereas, as a consequence, North Carolina was one of only two original States not 8
57	59		part of the then United States under the new federal Constitution at the end of 1788; and 9
58	60		Whereas, the comments and concerns of North Carolina informed James Madison 10
59	61		when he drafted amendments preserving individual and States' rights; and 11
60	62		Whereas, those proposed twelve amendments were approved by the new Congress in 12
61	63		September of 1789; and 13
62	64		Whereas, after those amendments were sent to the States for ratification, North 14
63	65		Carolina ratified the federal Constitution at its second state ratifying convention in Fayetteville 15
64	66		in November of 1789; and 16
65	67		Whereas, in December of 1789, North Carolina ratified all twelve of the amendments 17
66	68		proposed by Congress; and 18
67	69		Whereas, because of North Carolina's initial refusal to ratify a federal Constitution 19
68	70		without a bill of rights, we have our first ten amendments protecting individual rights at the 20
69	71		national level; and 21
70	72		Whereas, another one of the twelve amendments ratified by North Carolina in 22
71	73		December of 1789 was added to the federal Constitution over 200 years later, in 1992, when it 23
72	74		became fully-ratified by 38 of the 50, or three-fourths, of the States; and 24
73	75		Whereas, that amendment, known as the Congressional Pay Amendment, is our 27th 25
74	76		Amendment, because Article V of the federal Constitution does not limit the time for States to 26
75	77		ratify an amendment; and 27
76	78		Whereas, adding a ratification time limit is itself an amendment to the Constitution 28
77	79		and must be included within the text of an amendment in order to have effect; and 29
78	80		Whereas, the seven-year ratification time frame included in the internal resolution 30
79	81		Congress used to vote on the proposed Equal Rights Amendment is outside the text of the 31
80	82		amendment and without legal effect; and 32
81	83		Whereas, having been fully-ratified by three-fourths of the States as of January 27, 33
82	84		2020, and with those ratifications as final and irrevocable under law, the Equal Rights 34
83	85		Amendment is now our 28th Amendment to the federal Constitution, despite a failure to date of 35
84	86		the federal government to comply with 1 United States Code 106b requiring official recognition 36
85	87		of this constitutional act of the States; and 37
86	88		Whereas, North Carolina's own history has shown that a constitutional ratification is 38
87	89		an important statement of States' rights at any time, as exemplified by the State's ratification of 39
88	90		the 19th Amendment on May 6, 1971, 51 years after its ratification; and 40
89	91		Whereas, unlike other State constitutions, the North Carolina State Constitution does 41
90	92		not include equal protection against sex discrimination; and 42
91	93		Whereas, in a 2020 poll by the Pew Research Center, about eight in ten Americans 43
92	94		(78%) said they favored the federal Equal Rights Amendment, including majorities of men and 44
93	95		women and Democrats and Republicans alike; and 45
94	96		Whereas, bipartisan support for the Equal Rights Amendment has continued to rise in 46
95	97		North Carolina, with a 2023 Meredith Poll showing an increase of more than four percent of 47
96	98		voters in support (to 71.5%), and opposition falling by more than three percent (to just 13.5%) 48
97	99		compared to a 2019 poll; and 49 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
98		-	~~House Bill 500-First Edition~~ Page 3
	100	+	DRH40253-LR-68A Page 3
99	101		Whereas, the federal Equal Rights Amendment is a foundational constitutional 1
100	102		guarantee in North Carolina and nationally, since it affirms that constitutional rights are held 2
101	103		equally by all persons regardless of sex; and 3
102	104		Whereas, a recognition of individual rights, including equality of rights under the 4
103	105		federal Constitution, is an essential addition to North Carolina's patriotic heritage; Now, 5
104	106		therefore, 6
105	107		The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7
106	108		SECTION 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina hereby ratifies and affirms 8
107	109		the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America set forth in this 9
108	110		act. 10
109	111		SECTION 2. A certified copy of this act shall be forwarded by the Governor of this 11
110	112		State to the Archivist of the United States, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the 12
111	113		Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, and each member 13
112	114		of the North Carolina congressional delegation. 14
113	115		SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law. 15