Longboat Key commission signs off on support for ERA

Without discussion on Monday, Town Commissioners signed off on a resolution in support of ratification in the state legislature of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Commissioners did not comment on the measure before voting and adopted it unanimously in the consent-agenda portion of their Monday meeting along with a collection of public-forum fee waivers and the reclassification of a commission workshop in March to a special meeting. Later in the meeting, Mayor George Spoll made the public at the meeting aware it had been done.

The resolution will now be sent to Tallahassee, similar to ones approved and transmitted in 2019 from other local governments in Florida. Among them: the Manatee County Commission and city commissions in Sarasota, Holmes Beach, North Port, and Venice. Commissioners in Hillsborough County also passed a similar resolution, as did the cities of St. Petersburg and Tampa.

A proposal for a resolution of support was brought before the Sarasota County Commission in December by Commissioner Nancy Detert, but no action was taken. Since 2003, Florida lawmakers have considered the amendment, but the measure has never reached a floor vote in either house.

The push for Florida to ratify comes after Virginia became the 38th state approving the measure, setting off a court challenge on whether the amendment will come to fruition. 

Opponents of ERA say the resurgence of support comes decades too late and point to a 1982 deadline set by Congress and a recent U.S. Justice Department opinion supporting that argument. Attorneys general in Virginia, Nevada and Illinois, the last three states to ratify and surpass the three-quarters threshold,  filed suit last week to force the amendment into effect. Additional measure to legislatively lift the deadline and restart the process also are working their way through Congress.

The amendment, in part, holds that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Enforcement powers are also included.

The local resolution was brought forward to the commission in early January by Town Manager Tom Harmer, who sought guidance at 2020's first meeting. Without a formal vote, commissioners signaled support for such a resolution, which resulted in Monday's vote.