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SALT LAKE CITY — It's been more than 50 years since the Equal Rights Amendment cleared Congress. But what would be the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution has languished, unable to garner support from a three-fourths majority of state legislatures.
A majority of states voted to ratify the amendment in the year since it passed in 1972, though the amendment failed to get support from 38 states required before a pair of contested deadlines passed in 1982. Several states have since revoked their ratifications.
After Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment in 2020, the Justice Department issued an opinion stating the legislative approval process must start over in order for the amendment to become binding.
Utah is among a handful of states never to have ratified the amendment, though Democratic lawmakers have tried to pass the amendment through the Utah Legislature multiple times in recent years — without so much as a committee hearing to show for it. Advocacy groups have also rallied lawmakers to approve the amendment.
Senate Minority Whip Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, has sponsored resolutions in several consecutive years to ratify the amendment in Utah. This year, she's serving as the floor sponsor for a similar resolution being proposed in the Utah House of Representatives by Rep. Mark Wheatley, D-Salt Lake City.
Riebe told KSL.com that previous versions of HJR16 have not made it through the Rules Committee, which assigns bills to committees for public comment and consideration. The senator is not optimistic that this year will be any different, but she said she's running it yet again because it's the right thing to do for her constituents.
"It's very important," she said. "We are continually the worst state to live in as a woman ... and we have a really large wage gap between women and men. ... And even if this body — a certain number of people in this body — choose that it's not something they want to hear, it still brings that conversation to the table."
The Equal Rights Amendment 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."
HJR16 points out that the Utah Constitution already has language protecting against sex-based discrimination, and Wheatley said the Equal Rights Amendment would fit into the framework of rights already provided to Utahns.
Article IV, Section 1 of the Utah Constitution states: "The rights of citizens of the state of Utah to vote and hold office shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. Both male and female citizens of this state shall enjoy equally all civil, political and religious rights and privileges."
Although some protections are provided by the Utah Constitution, Riebe said it's "frustrating on a personal level" to feel undervalued as a woman in the state.
"When you think about a woman getting equal pay, you're actually giving opportunities to a whole family," she said, by giving either parent in a family the chance to earn a living wage. "Equal rights is actually equal rights for men and women so that you can actually use your resources as a family more wisely to choose who's going to work or who's going to stay home."
Ratifying the amendment, she said, is a chance to send a strong message about equality in the state and across the nation.
Wheatley agrees that the ratification would allow Utah to set an example when it comes to equality, and thinks it would help address pay and other disparities.
"I have a mother, I have a wife, I have a granddaughter, and I have aunts and sisters," he said. "I believe in equality, and it should be extended to not just men but to women."
Wheatley is also more optimistic that the resolution could come before a committee this session, and said he plans to speak with House Rules Chairman Rep. Brady Brammer, R-Highland, and the newly-elected House leadership team about allowing HJR16 to be heard publicly.
"I'm very optimistic, and I can see this as a bright spot for our state," he said. "I mean, I wouldn't be running it if I didn't feel like it had a possibility."
