May 11, 2018: ILLINOIS HOUSE POISED TO VOTE ON ERA WE NEED YOUR HELP TODAY

May 11, 2018 Robert Wood

This is it. The moment we have been waiting for. The Illinois House is poised to vote on ERA next week!

We got back Wednesday night from our third whirlwind trip to Chicago/Springfield and accomplished so much! [MORE ON THAT AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS EMAIL]

URGENT! IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED TODAY!

SJRCA4 ( for Illinois to ratify the ERA) is now officially assigned to Human Services Committee and the hearing is been posted for May 16, 2018. The House needs at least 71 votes to ratify, which means both Democrats and Republicans need to support it.

The fight in Illinois is very very close. According to our sources in the know, it is literally down to ONE VOTE…

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

FILL OUT A WITNESS SLIP FOR THE NEXT HEARING MAY 16TH and make your statement about equality for posterity; let’s get thousands of witnesses to fill out these forms saying why ERA urgently needs ratification:

FILL OUT A WITNESS SLIP NOW

CALL & WRITE TODAY: Please send your support for SJCRA4 to Representative Robyn Gabel, Chair of the House Human Services Committee, right away! (217) 782-8052, staterepgabel@robyngabel.com
HOLD YOUR OWN PHONE BANK PARTY using the predictive dialer system, here is the sign up link: https://goo.gl/forms/cRRtA7gcFcI3i5vl2
GO INTO REP. LOU LANG’S OFFICE IN SKOKIE and phone bank Mon-Tue-Wed from 4pm-8pm, here is the sign up link: https://goo.gl/forms/ekDi4b2OpIiNOCPt2
PHONE BANK FROM HOME in your free time, call or email Eden in Lou Lang’s office directly: Tel (217) 782-1252 ([email protected]) and she will give you the virtual phone bank link.

We need your help to steer Illinois State Representatives in the right direction. Help us make herstory!!! Let’s make Illinois the #37^th state to ratify the ERA!

NOW… MORE ABOUT OUR AWESOME TRIP TO CHICAGO/SPRINGFIELD:

On Monday May 7^th, the Rules Committee of the Illinois House of Delegates held a hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment. Equal Means Equal team was present in the hearing to represent the millions of women who cannot wait for equal rights any longer.

Rep. Lou Lang, ERA Sponsor and Hero of Skokie, Illinois, pushed back on those who used abortion as a smoke screen for bigotry, saying the amendment is “about giving everyone equal rights.” EME Exec Dir. Kamala Lopez also testified; watch Nevada State Senator and ERA Heroine Patricia Spearman’s partial testimony here and support her Congressional campaign to make sure ERA gets into the Constitution once we have 38 states (more video to come soon!):

After four hours of “passionate” testimony…

Illinois House committee passionately debates Equal Rights Amendment

ERA Battle Moves to House, Supporters on Brink of Victory

…the EME team (Kamala, Natalie, Senator Patricia Spearman, Lizzy Jagger, Jules Wood, Sarabeth Stroller, Mynxii, Patricia Bahia & Ali Handal) headed to Springfield where we held a reception for delegates at the lovely Sangamo Club.

Special thanks to Ron Goldberg and Lamborghini Champagne for their sponsorship.

Then the next morning, on May 8th, Equal Means Equal joined the grassroots groups in Illinois to hold the ERA Mother’s day rally outside the State Capitol in Springfield at the Lincoln Statue. We made the front page of the paper with an awesome quote from EME Artistic Director Natalie White:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I was born in the state of West Virginia, which ratified the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972. You can’t tell me that in the year 2018 that Illinois is more backward about women’s rights than West Virginia was in 1972.”

Notable figures in attendance included Democratic candidate for Governor J.B. Pritzker, Senator Pat. Spearman, Rep. Lou Lang. Men and women from all over Illinois participated in the rally and made a push in the Capitol for the ratification of ERA.