SAINT PAUL, MN – Today, marking International Women’s Day, Lawmakers and Equal Rights Amendment Minnesota (ERA MN) activists gathered at the Capitol to advocate for action on equal rights legislation in Minnesota. Among the legislation they were advocating for is a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights in Minnesota and a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to extend the deadline for states to ratify the federal ERA. Only three more states are needed to ratify the ERA.
Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis) is the chief author of HF 165, a constitutional amendment to ensure gender equality in Minnesota.
“I was in my first term when Minnesota ratified the Equal Rights Amendment,” remarked Rep. Phyllis Kahn. “That was at a time when they only allowed one of the six women serving in the House to be co-authors on ratification. It’s been too long for Minnesota and our country to not join every other advanced country and guarantee equal rights under our constitution. The citizens of our state and country deserve to have this important principle, the equal treatment of persons based on gender, enshrined in our constitutions.”
Rep. Phyllis Kahn was joined by Rep. Rena Moran (DFL-Saint Paul), Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL-Minneapiolis), Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester) Rep. Jennifer Schultz (DFL-Minneapolis), Rep. JoAnn Ward (DFL-Woodbury) and Sen. Sandy Pappas (DFL-Saint Paul) at the press conference.