Lawmakers at the state Capitol may have been surprised today to see people carrying signs advocating state ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, even though no bill to that effect has been filed in the Legislature.

Rep. Lindsley Smith, D-Fayetteville, informs that a coalition of 20 organizations, among them the American Association of University Women, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arkansas Education Association  and the Arkansas Federation of Business and Professional Women, is already lobbying for the ERA in anticipation of Smith’s filing a bill seeking ratification of the amendment in Arkansas.

An ERA bill Smith filed in 2007 failed to get out of a House committee. Smith says she plans to file the same bill this session “when we have the votes.”

Tags: Equal Rights Amendment, Lindsley Smith

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