TAMPA (Sept. 30, 2019)—The Tampa Tiger Bay Club will present a panel of experts to discuss the Equal Rights Amendment and whether Florida could be the final state to place it in the U.S. Constitution. The luncheon meeting will be Thursday, Oct. 10, at the DoubleTree Hilton in the Westshore area of Tampa.
The panelists will be Patricia Brigham, President of the Florida League of Women Voters; Political Scientist Susan MacManus of Tampa; Michelle Nadeau, an Employment and Labor Lawyer based in Clearwater; and Ed Martin, President of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, a national opponent of the ERA.
Congress sent the ERA to the states for ratification in 1972, but it fell three states short of the necessary 38 states to ratify. Since 2017, Nevada and Illinois ratified the amendment, leaving one more state to place the amendment in the Constitution.
A push is on to add Florida to the list of states ratifying the amendment. The amendment and the process for ratification continues to be controversial. Five states have revoked ratification, though some legal experts contend it’s not possible to revoke. Congress placed deadlines for states to ratify that expired decades ago, so it’s unclear if Nevada and Illinois could legally ratify it after the deadline expired.
The DoubleTree is at 4500 W. Cypress St. Lunch is served at 11:40 a.m. and the program begins promptly at noon. The cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members.
For tickets, go to tigerbayclub.com/tickets. For more information, email executivedirector@tigerbayclub.com
The Tampa Tiger Bay Club is a nonpartisan political group that presents lively discussions on important issues and candidates running for office.