Hear, Hear! SJ 284 Will Be Read For the First Time Today!

VAratifyERA Hear, Hear! SJ 284, the Senate Resolution for Virginia's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, was "read" for the first time on the Senate floor today. It was an early session that started at 10 AM and the Senate voted to move a collection of bills / resolutions, including the Equal Rights Amendment, to their second read on Monday. Every bill / resolution must be read three times before a vote. The process on the Senate floor will be: First read Second read + open debate Third read + continued debate + vote This coming Monday, regardless of weather, will be the second reading of the resolution and the opening of debate. Equality advocates should definitely be in the galleries because we're pretty sure the "anti" crowd will be there to support Senator Chase and whatever she will say. It will be interesting to see who else chooses to speak against the Equal Rights Amendment. The vote on SJ 284 will be on Tuesday after debate closes. Again, we should have a large presence in the galleries. The Senate floor sessions are live-streamed and can be found here. The House floor sessions are also live-streamed and catalogued (link here). If you didn't see Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy's floor speech about the Equal Rights Amendment on opening day, January 9th, we highly recommend you watch it. It was a powerful speech and received accolades even from Republicans unsupportive of the ERA. Changes to House P&E The House Privileges and Elections committee has undergone a couple of changes this week. Delegate Hugo, our most likely "yes" vote from the Republicans, has been removed along with Delegate Bell. In their place Delegates Head and McGuire have been added. Delegate Head is a hard no (as was Delegate Bell) so that is an even swap. Delegate McGuire was a co-patron last year but has since reversed course, although we believe he should still be considered a "top 3 target" as was Hugo. In some ways this is a mild setback but not too bad. Lobbyist in a box Sorry the link in the last newsletter did not work... Here is the right link! The two resolutions to track are HJ 579 and SJ 284. Gratitudes! Thank you to EVERYONE who joined us on Wednesday for the exciting day here at the General Assembly. We had such a wonderful time. The picture streams are ALLLLL over the internet on VAratifyERA accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn), personal accounts of those in attendance, print media (RTD, Virginian-Pilot, Washington Post, Daily Press, Virginia Mercury, etc.), TV media, and on the social media feeds of many of our elected officials. It was a great day and we'd be remiss not to take a moment to celebrate the legislators that support us, the many citizens who took personal time to join us, those who organized buses, and those who spoke on our collective behalf in the Senate P&E hearing. Go team! Next steps! We need you to contact your legislators! The opposition is calling and writing and has deployed their people. We heard many are not from the districts they are contacting but we need to up our contact game. If you do not know who your state legislators are you can input your address into this website and look them up. Today - call your legislators and express your support for the Equal Rights Amendment. This weekend, look for the details on getting engaged! NOTE: If your legislator is not a co-patron on the resolutions (SJ 284 list is found here and HJ 579 list is found here) then call and get them signed on!!! Even some of our supportive legislators have not yet done their paperwork. TOMORROW! ERA Update and Advocacy Training in Norfolk Tomorrow at the AAUW monthly meeting (@ WHRO, 5200 N. Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, VA) Shene' Owens will give an ERA overview and Kati Hornung will give a General Assembly update and information on key districts nearby: Delegate Jay Leftwich (R-Chesapeake) Delegate Chris Jones (R-Chesapeake & Suffolk) RVA March and Expo + Criminal Reform Rally Tomorrow VAratifyERA will participate in Richmond's March and Expo at the Arthur Ashe center beginning at 10 AM. We will close our table early (1:30 PM) so we can join the Criminal Reform Rally at the Bell Tower on the Virginia Capitol grounds. We believe the Equal Rights Amendment, when added to the Constitution, will be another tool for challenging systemic inequities as outlined in this OpEd from October. Call and e-mail DAILY... Join us for the 2nd and 3rd readings... Amplify on social media **please use #EqualRightsAmendment because the Eagle Forum is taking that one over... Copyright © 2019 VAratifyERA, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via an online survey or via MailChimp's enrollment option. Our mailing address is: VAratifyERA 14300 West Shore Lane Midlothian, VA 23112 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp