No further states added their approval during the extension, however, and the proposed ERA appeared to expire in 1982. Since the proposed ERA's extended ratification period expired in 1982, Senators and Representatives have continued to introduce new versions of the amendment, beginning in the 97 th Congress. These include "fresh start" proposals that proposed a new constitutional amendment, separate from the amendment proposed by Congress in 1972 (H.J. 33

H.J.Res. Removing the ERA Ratification Deadline: The "Three-State Strategy"

Two resolutions introduced in the 115 th Congress, one each in the House and Senate, are designed to reopen the ratification process for H.J. S.J.Res. 5

This resolution, designed to reopen the ERA ratification process, was introduced by Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland on January 17, 2017. 53

This resolution was introduced by Representative Jackie Speier of California on January 31, 2017. 53 is identical to that of S.J.Res. Discussion

Many ERA proponents claim that because the amendment as originally proposed by Congress in 1972 did not include a ratification deadline within the amendment text , it remains potentially viable and eligible for ratification indefinitely. They maintain that Congress possesses the authority both to remove the original 1979 ratification deadline and its 1982 extension, and to restart the ratification clock at the then-current 36-state level, with or without a future ratification deadline. In support, they assert that Article V of the Constitution gives Congress uniquely broad authority over the amendment process. They further cite the Supreme Court's decisions in Dillon v. Glo ss and Coleman v. Miller in support of their position. They also note the precedent of the Twenty-Seventh "Madison" Amendment, which was ratified in 1992, 203 years after Congress proposed it to the states. Recent Activity in the State Legislatures: Nevada and Illinois

Although the ratification deadline for the proposed ERA expired in 1982, its proponents have continued to press for action in the legislatures of states that either failed to ratify it, or had previously rejected the amendment. Nevada and Illinois Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment

The most widely-publicized recent ERA developments in the states occurred in March 2017, and May 2018, when Nevada and Illinois ratified the proposed amendment. An Equal Rights Amendment: Legislative and Ratification History, 1923-1972

Despite the efforts of women's rights advocates in every Congress, nearly 50 years passed between the time when the Mott Amendment was first introduced in 1923 and the Equal Rights Amendment was approved by Congress and proposed to the states in 1972. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex. Fresh start amendments introduced in the 115 th Congress, S.J.Res. "Three-State" Proposals

In addition to "fresh start" proposals, alternative approaches to the ratification question have also emerged over the years. In the 112 th Congress, for the first time since the proposed ERA's deadline expired, resolutions were introduced in both the House and Senate that sought specifically to (1) repeal, or eliminate entirely, the deadlines set in 1972 and 1978; (2) reopen the proposed ERA for state ratification at the then-current count of 35 states; and (3) extend the period for state ratification indefinitely. Congress considered these issues but proceeded to declare the ratification process complete. By extending the original ERA deadline, Congress based its action on the broad authority over the amendment process conferred on it by Article V.
Finally, the authors asserted, relying on the precedent of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment, that "even if the seven-year limit was a reasonable legislative procedure, a ratification after the time limit expired can still be reviewed and accepted by the current Congress.... " In their view, even if one Congress failed to extend or remove the ratification deadline, states could still ratify, and a later Congress could ultimately validate their ratifications. Ultimately, however, the Court concluded that proposal of an amendment by Congress and ratification in the states are both steps in a single process, and that amendments
... are to be considered and disposed of presently.... [A] ratification is but the expression of the approbation of the people and is to be effective when had in three-fourths of the states, there is a fair implication that it must be sufficiently contemporaneous in that number of states to reflect the will of the people in all sections at relatively the same period, which of course ratification scattered through a long series of years would not do. The Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals from the decision, but after the extended ERA ratification deadline expired on June 30, 1982, the High Court in its autumn term vacated the lower court decision and remanded the decision to the District Court with instructions to dismiss the case. The resolution, as introduced, comprised the following text:
Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states within seven years of the date of its submission by the Congress:
Article—
Section 1. This approach might avoid the controversies that have been associated with repeal of the deadlines for the 1972 ERA, but starting over would present a fresh constitutional amendment with the stringent requirements provided in Article V: approval by two-thirds majorities in both houses of Congress, and ratification by three-fourths of the states.
The proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (ERA), which declares that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex," was approved by Congress for ratification by the states in 1972. The proposal included a seven-year deadline for ratification. Between 1972 and 1977, 35 state legislatures, of the 38 required by the Constitution, voted to ratify the ERA. Despite a congressional extension of the deadline from 1979 to 1982, no additional states approved the amendment during the extended period, at which time the amendment was widely considered to have expired.
Since 1982, Senators and Representatives who support the amendment have continued to introduce new versions of the ERA, generally referred to as "fresh start" amendments. In addition, some Members of Congress have also introduced resolutions designed to reopen ratification for the ERA as proposed in 1972, restarting the process where it ended in 1982. This was known as the "three-state strategy," for the number of additional ratifications then needed to complete the process, until Nevada and Illinois ratified the amendment in March 2017 and May 2018, respectively, becoming the 36th and 37th states to do so. The ERA supporters' intention here is to repeal or remove the deadlines set for the proposed ERA, reactivate support for the amendment, and complete the ratification process by gaining approval from the one additional state needed to meet the constitutional requirement, assuming the Nevada and Illinois ratifications are valid.
As the 115th Congress convened, resolutions were introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate that embraced both approaches. H.J.Res. 33, introduced by Representative Carolyn Maloney, and S.J.Res. 6, introduced by Senator Robert Menendez, propose "fresh start" equal rights amendments. H.J.Res. 53, introduced by Representative Jackie Speier, and S.J.Res. 5, introduced by Senator Benjamin Cardin, would remove the deadline for ratification of the ERA proposed by Congress in 1972.
First introduced in Congress in 1923, the ERA proposed to the states in 1972 by the 92nd Congress included the customary seven-year ratification time limit. Although through 1977 the ERA was approved by 35 states, various controversies brought the ratification process to a halt as the deadline approached. In 1978, Congress extended the deadline through 1982. Opponents claimed this violated the spirit, if not the letter of the amendment process; supporters insisted the amendment needed more time for state consideration. Further, they justified extension because the deadline was placed not in the amendment, but in its preamble. Despite the extension, no further states ratified during the extension period, and the amendment was presumed to have expired in 1982. During this period, the ratification question was further complicated when five state legislatures passed resolutions rescinding their earlier ratifications. The Supreme Court agreed to hear cases on the rescission question, but the ERA's ratification time limit expired before they could be argued, and the Court dismissed the cases as moot.
Many ERA proponents claim that because the amendment did not include a ratification deadline within the amendment text, it remains potentially viable and eligible for ratification indefinitely. They maintain that Congress possesses the authority both to repeal the original 1979 ratification deadline and its 1982 extension, and to restart the ratification clock at the current 37-state level—including the Nevada and Illinois ratifications—with or without a future ratification deadline. In support, they assert that Article V of the Constitution gives Congress broad authority over the amendment process. They further cite the Supreme Court's decisions in Dillon v. Gloss and Coleman v. Miller in support of their position. They also note the precedent of the Twenty-Seventh "Madison" Amendment, which was ratified in 1992, 203 years after Congress proposed it to the states.
Opponents of reopening the amendment process may argue that attempting to revive the ERA would be politically divisive, and that providing it with a "third bite of the apple" would be contrary to the spirit and perhaps the letter of Article V and Congress's earlier intentions. They might also reject the example of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment, which, unlike the proposed ERA, never had a ratification time limit. Further, they might claim that efforts to revive the ERA ignore the possibility that state ratifications may have expired with the 1982 deadline, and that amendment proponents fail to consider the issue of state rescission, which has never been specifically decided in any U.S. court.
The "fresh start" approach provides an alternative means to revive the ERA. It consists of starting over by introducing a new amendment, similar or identical to, but distinct from, the original. A fresh start would avoid potential controversies associated with reopening the ratification process, but would face the stringent constitutional requirements of two-thirds support in both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states.