VA Del. Mark Cole Freezes Women’s Opportunity for Economic Security
PRLog (Press Release) - Feb. 19, 2014 - RICHMOND, Va. — Just last week we learned that the new woman CEO of General Motors was earning half the salary of her male predecessors; discrimination on the basis of sex is still going strong in the United States even at the highest corporate levels. On February 4th Virginia Democratic and Republican Senators voted to ratify the stalled Federal Equal Rights Amendment bringing us one step closer to permanently ending discrimination on the basis of sex. However, Del Mark Cole is refusing to docket the Bill in the House even though the bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support and enjoys bipartisan support in the House.
Del. Cole, who is not an attorney, says that SJ 78 is not a legal bill. Many of the Senators who co-patroned and ultimately voted for the bill are attorneys. The United States Congress has sole discretion for Constitutional ratification deadlines; they may impose, extend or remove them at their discretion. Currently legislation is moving through both chambers of Congress to remove the deadline and add the three additional states required for full ratification.
Delegate Cole claims that he supports equality for women, yet refuses to allow even a committee hearing on the ERA bill. The grassroots group Women Matter Use Your Power has given Del. Cole every conceivable opportunity to bring the bill forward in committee. Co-founder Eileen Davis has personally delivered copies of the Congressional Review Study to his office explaining that this is the work of Constitutional scholars. In describing the bill she explains “What’s critical about this bill is that it’s a civil rights bill; this isn’t about body parts. Frankly this is a bipartisan dream bill.” Democratic and Republican members of the Virginia Senate agreed.
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