Equal Rights Amendment North Carolina Alliance

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Audrey Muck

Action Alert: Sign4ERA Petition

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This year marks the 100th anniversary of the year Alice Paul first introduced the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Seneca Falls seeking to codify the prohibition of sex-based discrimination in the United States Constitution. For a century lawmakers, activists and grassroots organizers have been fighting to pass the ERA and we have never been closer. While the ERA has fulfilled all Article Five requirements, the last hurdle is removing an arbitrary deadline placed upon its ratification when it successfully passed Congress in 1972.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to bring the ERA up for a vote on the Senate floor this week.

A petition drive, Sign4ERA, just launched today to raise the groundswell of support we need to push the ERA over this last hurdle.

Sign the ERA Petition

Please sign the petition, and call in your friends and family to sign, too!

The more signatures, the better – it will show that equality of rights under the law is the will of the American people. The ERA is the most permanent protection possible, safe from the whims of anti-choice, anti-women, anti-equality courts and politicians. Only the ERA will provide the constitutional basis to stop the attacks on abortion and birth control. The ERA would enable passage of stronger laws for survivors of gender-based violence to hold their abusers accountable. And the ERA is essential for achieving economic equality for women.

In the days ahead we’ll keep you posted with progress reports, action alerts and other steps you can take to put the ERA in the Constitution. But right now:

Sign the ERA Petition

We don’t have a moment to lose. Now is the time we must count on each other. Now is the time to act.

Bills Introduced at NCGA to Ratify ERA

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ERA, that crazy notion of women’s equality,
is officially 100 years old 

Raleigh — Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman wrote the Equal Rights Amendment a century ago: “Equal rights, under the law, shall not be denied or abridged, by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

The requisite 38 states have ratified the ERA but you will not find North Carolina on that list.

Yet.

Today, on International Women’s Day, Rep. Julie von Haefen and Sen. Natalie Murdock held a press conference announcing two new bills that will put North Carolina firmly on record as supporters of equal rights under the law for all its citizens.

Visit the ERA-NC Alliance YouTube channel or  Facebook page
to watch the press conference.

[Read more…] about Bills Introduced at NCGA to Ratify ERA

Poll Shows NC Supports ERA!

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A brand-new Meredith Poll of North Carolinians shows the continuing and overwhelming support for equal protection under the law regardless of sex. The results were released on Monday, March 6. Meredith Poll Director, David McLennan, will be present at a press conference Wednesday, March 8, at the NC General Assembly to discuss the results and take questions from the press.

Visit the Meredith Poll website to read the full poll report. The press conference will be streamed live on the ERA-NC Alliance Facebook page.

Responses to the Poll show an increasing majority of North Carolina voters support the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The poll was conducted in partnership with ERA-NC Alliance.

[Read more…] about Poll Shows NC Supports ERA!

Press Release: New NC Ratification Bill

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For immediate release

ERA, that crazy notion of women’s equality,
is officially 100 years old 

Raleigh — Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman wrote the Equal Rights Amendment a century ago: “Equal rights, under the law, shall not be denied or abridged, by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

The requisite 38 states have ratified the ERA but you will not find North Carolina on that list.

Yet.

At 10 a.m. on March 8, International Women’s Day, Rep. Julie von Haefen and Sen. Natalie Murdock will hold a press conference announcing two new bills that will put North Carolina firmly on record as supporters of equal rights under the law for all its citizens. The press conference will be held at the N.C. General Assembly, 16 W. Jones St., Raleigh.

Tens of millions of Americans have assumed that the land of “liberty and justice for all” naturally included women. It does not.

[Read more…] about Press Release: New NC Ratification Bill

ERA-NC Alliance Testimony on S.R. 4

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TESTIMONY ON S.R. 4 BEFORE U.S. SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
FROM THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT NORTH CAROLINA ALLIANCE
FEBRUARY 2023

My name is Roberta Madden; I am a co-founder and board member of the Equal Rights Amendment North Carolina Alliance. For more than six decades, I have worked to make the Equal Rights Amendment part of the United States Constitution. Previously living in Iowa, Tennessee, Louisiana and other states, I personally experienced sex discrimination. I was unable to obtain a credit card in my own name. I was excluded from jury service. I was paid three-fourths of the wages earned by men for the same job. Without the Equal Rights Amendment, women had no legal recourse.

Roberta Madden, Board Member
Roberta Madden is co-founder and current Board Member of the ERA-NC Alliance

The ERA North Carolina Alliance is proud to support Senate Resolution 4—a simple proposal.

[Read more…] about ERA-NC Alliance Testimony on S.R. 4

2022 Candidate Surveys

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ERA Certification graphicEvery two years, the ERA-NC Alliance reaches out to EVERY North Carolina candidate running for Congress and the General Assembly to determine their support for the Equal Rights Amendment. We send out letters with postage-paid return postcards to each candidate, and follow up with phone calls as much as possible.

A ‘yes’ means the candidate will co-sponsor and vote for the resolution to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Many candidates also returned comments with their survey.

[Read more…] about 2022 Candidate Surveys

2022 Annual Meeting

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2022 Annual Meeting

Saturday, November 19th
11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
(Doors open at 11 a.m.)
Hybrid – both in-person and via Zoom
Bennett College Global Learning Center
521 Gorrell St., Greensboro, NC 27406
Click for map

Our Annual Meeting team is busy planning a great day of excellent speakers, Alliance board and officer elections, a year in review and planning for the year ahead. So save the date, bookmark this page, and check back often as we fill in all the details!

[Read more…] about 2022 Annual Meeting

Article features Alliance partners

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The UNC Daily Tarheel interviewed ERA-NC Alliance co-president, Lori Bunton, as well as two of our partner organization leaders, Antionette Kerr, Women AdvaNCe’s co-director, and Judy Lotas, former Alliance board member and currently State Co-Chairperson for the ERA in the League of Women Voters.

“We really have a goal right now of seeing that North Carolina becomes a state where women have the same rights and same equality as men,” Bunton said.

Read the full article, “Fifty years after Congress passed Equal Rights Amendment, still not part of Constitution,” by Maggie McIntyre, on their website.

Alliance Elections Process

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Even Year Elections Process

  1. ELIGIBILITY: Any Individual Member or designated representative of Lead Organizations who is in good standing according to the Bylaws, (Article IV, Section 5. – GOOD STANDING) may be eligible to be nominated for election as an Officer or Director of the Board. This means the member must meet all membership eligibility requirements and be duly registered by the Alliance (resident of NC, current dues-paying member, 18 years of age or older).
  2. COMPOSITION AND ELECTION OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS:
    1. At the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Full Membership Body, the body will elect eight (8) Officers and three (3) Directors to the Board of Directors to replace those members who terms expire at the end of 2022 and any unfilled terms of other Board vacancies. The three (3) newly elected members shall be elected to serve for the 2023-2024 term (2 years) by a quorum of the Full Membership Body with a vote of:
      1. Individual Members who are afforded one vote each.
      2. Designated Representatives of Lead Organizations afforded one vote each.
    2. A quorum of the Full Membership Body is ten (10) percent of the total of Individual Members and Lead Organizations designated representatives in good standing as of the date of the annual meeting.
  3. TERMS OF SERVICE: The terms of the Board of Directors and Officers shall be two (2) years. No Director or Officer shall serve more than two (2) full consecutive terms. A Director or Officer who has left the Board because of a term limit may be reelected or reappointed to the Board after a period of one (1) year. Directors and Officers may serve a third consecutive two-year term upon a special vote of the Full Membership Body at an annual meeting.
  4. ELECTIONS: The annual meeting will be on November 19, 2022. Elections will be held at the annual meeting. Those elected will take office January 1, 2023.
    1. Eligible members interested in running for Directors and Officers will self-declare as candidates, sending a concise biography with a photo to the Nominating Committee Chair in a message that also designates the position for which they are running by September 1, 2022.
    2. The Nominations Committee will coordinate efforts to ensure that the eligible, self-declared candidates for Directors and Officers are posted on the ERA-NC Alliance website. The Nominations Committee will interview candidates for Board positions and nominate a slate. Other nominations for Directors and Officers can be made from the floor at the annual meeting.
  5. ELECTIONS & ANNUAL MEETING DEADLINES:

Aug 1- Election Process posted on website and candidacy recruitment letter goes out.

Sept 18 – All candidate names, bios and photos are to be submitted to the Nominating Committee Chair

Oct 1 – All Candidates received to date will be vetted for eligibility

Oct 18 – All candidates’ names will be posted to website (30 days before meeting)

Nov 1 – All eligible voters will have submitted appropriate membership forms to VP Membership to be received and duly registered in advance of the Annual Meeting.

Nov 19 – Annual Meeting (nominations can be taken from the floor)

  1. JOB DESCRIPTIONS:

DIRECTORS:   

The Directors shall have all powers and authority to manage the business, property, and affairs of the Alliance; and to perform such lawful actions and duties as it deems proper and appropriate to promote the purposes and objectives of the Alliance. The Board of Directors may delegate, as necessary from time to time, responsibility for such affairs, business, and property to the Executive Council. Directors appoint chairs of standing or ad hoc committees by a majority vote unless otherwise specified by the bylaws. Directors are expected to attend meetings and actively serve on committees to include acting as committee chairs when appointed/elected.

OFFICERS:

Co-Presidents shall be the chief officers of the Alliance and shall jointly have general charge and supervision over and responsibility for the affairs of the Alliance. Each Co-President will act in the absence of the other or with written notification by the other that she/he is unable to carry out her/his duties. The Co-Presidents shall perform all the duties required and may interchangeably preside over all meetings, sign all official documents, and execute all other duties that usually devolve upon a president.

Vice-President, Fundraising shall preside at all meetings in the absence of the Co-Presidents or at their request. The Vice President, Fundraising shall serve as Chair of the Fundraising Committee. The Vice-President, Fundraising shall succeed to the office of Co-President in the event of a vacancy in that office during the two-year term of office.

Vice-President, Public Relations shall preside at all meetings in the absence of the Co-Presidents and Vice-President, Fundraising. The Vice-President, Public Relations shall serve as Chair of the Public Relations Committee. The Vice-President, Public Relations shall succeed to the office of Co-President in the event of vacancies in the offices of Co-Presidents and First Vice-President.

Vice-President, Membership shall preside at all meetings in the absence of the Co-Presidents and Vice-President, Fundraising and Vice President, Public Relations. The Vice-President, Membership shall serve as Chair of the Membership Committee. The Vice-President, Membership shall succeed to the office of Co-President in the event of vacancies in the offices of Co-Presidents and of the Vice-President, Fundraising and Vice-President, Public Relations.

Vice-President, Legislation shall preside at all meetings in the absence of the Co-Presidents and other Vice-Presidents. The Vice-President, Legislation shall serve as Chair of the Legislative Committee. The Vice-President, Legislation shall succeed to the office of Co-President in the event of vacancies in the offices of Co-Presidents and the other Vice-Presidents.

Secretary shall keep all minutes of the meetings of the Alliance. The Secretary shall perform such other duties and possess such powers as are incidental to the office or as shall be assigned by the Co-Presidents or the Board of Directors.

Treasurer shall accurately keep all financial records, maintain all banking accounts, make deposits, issue properly authorized payments, and make regular written and oral reports on money received and expended to the Board of Directors or Executive Council as directed. The Treasurer shall make all records available for audit and shall turn over all records to the succeeding Treasurer within thirty (30) business days of the end of the term of office.