NC Adopt ERA.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 438

Short Title: NC Adopt ERA. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Mayfield, Murdock, and Bradley (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 25, 2025
*S438-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO RATIFY THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF 2
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 3
Whereas, Article V of the Constitution of the United States of America sets forth a 4
two-step amending process; and 5
Whereas, the first step of the Article V amending process is proposal of an amendment 6
by two -thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a convention called by application of 7
two-thirds of the States; and 8
Whereas, the 92nd Congress of the United States of America, at its second session, in 9
both houses, by a constitutional majority of two-thirds thereof, adopted the following proposition 10
to amend the Constitution of the United States of America in the following words, to wit: 11
"JOINT RESOLUTION 12
"Resolved by the Senate and Hous e of Representatives of the United States of America in 13
Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is 14
proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all 15
intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 16
of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission by the Congress: 17
"ARTICLE ______ 18
"Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United 19
States or by any State on account of sex. 20
"Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the 21
provisions of this article. 22
"Sec. 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification."; and 23
Whereas, next, the second and final step of the Article V amending process is 24
ratification of an amendment by three-fourths of the States; and 25
Whereas, some forty-eight years after the amendment was adopted by Congress, on 26
January 27, 2020, Virginia became the 38th of the 50, or three-fourths, of the States to ratify this 27
federal Equal Rights Amendment; and 28
Whereas, in its distinct role as one of the original thirteen States, North Carolina 29
participated in the 1787 federal Constitutio nal Convention and helped draft the precise text of 30
the federal Constitution, including Article V which preserves States' rights to amend the 31
document; and 32
Whereas, a demand for amendments to the federal Constitution in order to recognize 33
individual rights is part of the patriotic heritage of the State of North Carolina; and 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 438-First Edition
Whereas, James Madison and other leaders made clear to the state ratifying 1
conventions for the federal Constitution that ratification cannot be conditioned on amendments 2
and, once made, a ratification is final and cannot be rescinded; and 3
Whereas, at the state ratifying convention for the federal Constitution held in 4
Hillsborough in summer of 1788, North Carolina delegates sought a bill of individual rights to 5
be added to the federal Constitution and voted 184 to 84 to neither ratify nor reject the document; 6
and 7
Whereas, as a consequence, North Carolina was one of only two original States not 8
part of the then United States under the new federal Constitution at the end of 1788; and 9
Whereas, the comments and concerns of North Carolina informed James Madison 10
when he drafted amendments preserving individual and States' rights; and 11
Whereas, those proposed twelve amendments were approved by the new Congress in 12
September of 1789; and 13
Whereas, aft er those amendments were sent to the States for ratification, North 14
Carolina ratified the federal Constitution at its second state ratifying convention in Fayetteville 15
in November of 1789; and 16
Whereas, in December of 1789, North Carolina ratified all twelve of the amendments 17
proposed by Congress; and 18
Whereas, because of North Carolina's initial refusal to ratify a federal Constitution 19
without a bill of rights, we have our first ten amendments protecting individual rights at the 20
national level; and 21
Whereas, another one of the twelve amendments ratified by North Carolina in 22
December of 1789 was added to the federal Constitution over 200 years later, in 1992, when it 23
became fully ratified by 38 of the 50, or three-fourths, of the States; and 24
Whereas, that amendment, known as the Congressional Pay Amendment, is our 27th 25
Amendment, because Article V of the federal Constitution does not limit the time for States to 26
ratify an amendment; and 27
Whereas, adding a ratification time limit is itself an amendment to the Cons titution 28
and must be included within the text of an amendment in order to have effect; and 29
Whereas, the seven -year ratification time frame included in the internal resolution 30
Congress used to vote on the proposed Equal Rights Amendment is outside the text of the 31
amendment and without legal effect; and 32
Whereas, having been fully ratified by three -fourths of the States as of January 27, 33
2020, and with those ratifications as final and irrevocable under law, the Equal Rights 34
Amendment is now our 28th Amendment to the federal Constitution, despite a failure to date of 35
the federal government to comply with 1 United States Code 106b requiring official recognition 36
of this constitutional act of the States; and 37
Whereas, North Carolina's own history has shown that a co nstitutional ratification is 38
an important statement of States' rights at any time, as exemplified by the state's ratification of 39
the 19th Amendment on May 6, 1971, 51 years after its ratification; and 40
Whereas, unlike other State constitutions, the North Carolina State Constitution does 41
not include equal protection against sex discrimination; and 42
Whereas, in a 2020 poll by the Pew Research Center, about eight in ten Americans 43
(78%) said they favored the federal Equal Rights Amendment, including majorities of men and 44
women and Democrats and Republicans alike; and 45
Whereas, bipartisan support for the Equal Rights Amendment has continued to rise in 46
North Carolina, with a 2023 Meredith Poll showing an increase of more than four percent of 47
voters in support (to 71. 5%), and opposition falling by more than three percent (to just 13.5%) 48
compared to a 2019 poll; and 49
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 438-First Edition Page 3
Whereas, the federal Equal Rights Amendment is a foundational constitutional 1
guarantee in North Carolina and nationally, since it affirms that constitutiona l rights are held 2
equally by all persons regardless of sex; and 3
Whereas, a recognition of individual rights, including equality of rights under the 4
federal Constitution, is an essential addition to North Carolina's patriotic heritage; Now, 5
therefore, 6
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7
SECTION 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina hereby ratifies and affirms 8
the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America set forth in this 9
act. 10
SECTION 2. A certified copy of this act shall be forwarded by the Governor of this 11
State to the Archivist of the United States, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the 12
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, and each member 13
of the North Carolina congressional delegation. 14
SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law. 15