2023
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 23-006
BY SENATOR(S) Cutter and Buckner, Bridges, Coleman, Danielson, Exum,
Fields, Ginal, Gonzales, Hansen, Hinrichsen, Jaquez Lewis, Kolker, Marchman,
Moreno, Mullica, Priola, Roberts, Rodriguez, Sullivan, Winter F., Zenzinger,
Fenberg;
also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Froelich and English, Amabile, Bacon, Bird,
Boesenecker, Brown, Daugherty, deGruy Kennedy, Dickson, Duran, Garcia,
Gonzales-Gutierrez, Hamrick, Herod, Jodeh, Joseph, Kipp, Lieder, Lindsay,
Lindstedt, Lukens, Mabrey, Marshall, Martinez, McCormick, McLachlan,
Michaelson Jenet, Ortiz, Parenti, Ricks, Sharbini, Sirota, Snyder, Story, Titone,
Valdez, Velasco, Vigil, Weissman, Willford, Woodrow, Young, McCluskie.
CONCERNING THE EFFORT TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND
ENSHRINE IN THE CONSTITUTION THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN
THE UNITED STATES.
WHEREAS, This year marks the 100th anniversary of when the Equal
Rights Amendment ("ERA") was initially proposed in Congress. Many
things about American life have changed since then. It took 100 years, but
there is now widespread bipartisan support of the Equal Rights
Amendment; and
WHEREAS, The strides made over these past 100 years are not
inconsequential, but are still piecemeal when compared to the
straightforward declaration of the ERA, which simply states: "Equality of
rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States
or by any state on account of sex"; and
WHEREAS, We know that women's rights on multiple levels are still
being challenged. Bodily autonomy, equal pay, and protection from
sexual harassment are still being denied; and
WHEREAS, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, the Brennan Center's Women and
Democracy Fellow, noted that the ERA would empower Congress "to
enforce gender equity through legislation and, more generally, the
creation of a social framework to formally acknowledge systemic biases
that permeate and often limit women's daily experiences"; and
WHEREAS, Among 193 United Nations member states, 85% have a
provision in their constitution that specifically addresses gender equality,
and 60% have a provision that prohibits discrimination on the basis of
sex; and
WHEREAS, The ERA would transform what is currently implicit into
the unambiguous and strengthen the bedrock of our most dearly held
American value, that all people are created equal. As one of the first
states to allow women to vote, several years before the 19th amendment
gave all women in America this right, Colorado has proudly stood by and
for women. The ERA has been duly ratified by the 38 required states. It
is long past time to fill the full measure of this storied history, and with
Virginia's vote last year, the last of the 38 required, it is time to enshrine
the ERA into the U.S. Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Coloradans and all American women deserve this basic
protection of their inherent freedom; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventy-fourth General Assembly
of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:
(1) That women have fought long and hard to have their rights
recognized;
(2) That women and those identifying as women are still subject to
pay, pregnancy, and other forms of discrimination; and
(3) That, having received the ratification of the 38 states required, it
is time for the United States Congress to pass the Equal Rights
Amendment.
PAGE 2-SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 23-006
____________________________ ____________________________
Steve Fenberg Julie McCluskie
PRESIDENT OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES
____________________________ ____________________________
Cindi L. Markwell Robin Jones
SECRETARY OF CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PAGE 3-SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 23-006
