Biden says the Equal Rights Amendment is law. What happens next is unclear
Biden says the Equal Rights Amendment is law. What happens next is unclear
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/biden-says-the-equal-r...
By Danielle Kurzleben
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Demonstrators urge ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment during a Sept. 28, 2022, rally in Washington, D.C.
President Biden on Friday declared that he considers the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution "the law of the land," a surprising declaration that does not have any formal force of effect, but that was celebrated by its backers in a rally in front of the National Archives.
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The amendment would need to be formally published or certified to come into effect by the national archivist, Colleen Shogan — and when, or if that will happen is unclear.
The executive branch doesn't have a direct role in the amendment process, and Biden cannot order the archivist to certify and publish the ERA
A senior administration official said that the archivist's role is "purely ministerial" in nature, meaning that the archivist is required to publish the amendment once it is ratified.
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In response to an NPR question about whether the archivist would take any new actions, the National Archives communications staff pointed to a December statement saying that the ERA "cannot be certified as part of the Constitution due to established legal, judicial, and procedural decisions."
"This is a long-standing position for the archivist and the National Archives.
The underlying legal and procedural issues have not changed," the archives' statement said.
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Biden's last-minute move comes after a campaign by Democrat lawmakers
The 1970s-era amendment passed by Congress would guarantee men and women equal rights under the law, but it took until 2020 for enough state legislatures to ratify it, missing a deadline set by Congress by a long shot.
ERA proponents have argued, the deadline was not binding because it was in the preamble to the amendment, rather than the text of the amendment itself.
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On Friday, Biden said he believed the ERA had cleared the hurdle to be added to the Constitution as its 28th Amendment when Virginia ratified it five years ago.
He did not explain why he waited until the waning days of his presidency to take action — though he said he had consulted "dozens of constitutional scholars" as he weighed his decision.
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His move comes after a campaign from Democrat lawmakers, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who has said it would be a way to protect abortion rights.
Gillibrand has said she expects, the matter will end up in the Supreme Court.
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There's a long legal controversy over the ERA
The issue has long been the subject of legal controversy.
In 2020, the national archivist — who is charged with making constitutional amendments official — declined to certify the amendment, citing an opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.
The department said it considered the ERA to be expired after a 1982 ratification deadline was missed.
In 2022, the Office of Legal Counsel released an opinion affirming that 2020 decision.
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Colleen Shogan is sworn in to be 11th archivist of the United States at the National Archives on Sept. 11, 2023.
Shogan, a Biden appointee and the first woman archivist, said in her 2022 confirmation hearing that the Biden administration had not asked her about her position on ERA ratification before nominating her.
She added that she would abide by the Office of Legal Counsel's opinion, saying the ERA's fate would be decided by the Supreme Court or Congress.
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Last month, Shogan reiterated that Congress and the Supreme Court would need to take further action to lift the deadline for the amendment to be ratified — arguing that the Archives could not legally certify and publish the ERA.
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ERA proponents said they wished Biden had acted earlier in his term, but celebrated the move nonetheless.
"I wish he had acted when he first got into office, quite frankly," said Zakiya Thomas, president and CEO of the ERA Coalition, which has promoted the amendment.
"But I will take this as we have it now, because I think the act itself is more important than the timing of it."
Thomas said she agreed with Biden, that the archivist's position is "ministerial."
However, she is under no illusions that the incoming Trump administration agrees.
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Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
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(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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