Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment supporters renew push for 2028 ballot
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Supporters rallied at the State Capitol rotunda on the first day of the 2024 session. Photo: Torey Van Oot/Axios
Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment supporters say the DFL's sweep of the State Capitol could give them their best shot yet at getting the measure on the ballot.
Why it matters: The proposed language would ask voters to add broad protections for gender, race, abortion, national origin and LGBTQ rights to Minnesota's 169-year-old constitution.
The big question: Whether backers, who plan to launch their renewed campaign Thursday, can secure the votes in the reshaped Legislature to place the measure on the 2028 ballot.
What they're saying: "There's real momentum to finally get this done," DFL state Rep. Leigh Finke, the chief House author, tells Axios. "There's a lot of enthusiasm, and I'm optimistic."
Catch up fast: ERA supporters came within what Finke called "a hair's breadth" of passing the measure in 2024, when Democrats last had full control of state government.
- Disagreements between House and Senate Democrats over the precise language slowed that effort, and boosters ran out of time to get the bill through both chambers before the adjournment deadline.
What we're hearing: Supporters say hang-ups over language have largely been resolved.
- "We are ready to go," DFL state Sen. Mary Kunesh tells Axios. "I think this is the year."
Plus: The DFL's big margins in both chambers give supporters more breathing room for passage than in 2024, when the DFL's narrow Senate majority meant all Democrats needed to vote aye.
- "If there are a few people with nervous knees, you can let them go and vote no," Betty Folliard, a former DFL state representative who has championed the cause for many years, tells Axios.
Context: Minnesota already prohibits many forms of discrimination via its landmark Human Rights Act.
- The state Constitution, meanwhile, guarantees rights such as freedom of speech, religious freedom and equal protection under the law.
Yes, but: Supporters say a constitutional amendment provides lasting, specific safeguards while strengthening legal paths for challenging unequal treatment.
- "There's no magic wand. It will build over time," Folliard says. "But to have those protections are really critical."
The other side: Critics have argued that the language as written goes too far, adding abortion rights and gender identity protections into the state Constitution at the expense of religious liberty.
- "I support equal rights for women, of course, absolutely, but this isn't your grandmother's ERA," Sen. Michael Kreun (R-Blaine) said at a hearing last spring. "We're inserting hot-button issues of the day that nowhere near have consensus by the people and we're enshrining it into our constitution and handing it over to the courts."
How it works: Constitutional amendments can be placed on the ballot via a simple majority vote in both chambers — no signature from the governor required.
- Gov.-elect Amy Klobuchar expressed openness to the measure at a news conference last week, saying she looks forward to working with lawmakers on it. Supporters are hopeful she'll be a voice for it.
- "Nobody 'needs' the governor to support it, but everything is better when we're together," Finke, who waved a Minnesota ERA sign during Klobuchar's election night victory speech, says.
What we're watching: If approved, the question would need to go on the November 2028 ballot, not next year's U.S. Senate special election, the Secretary of State's office tells Axios.
- The amendment would need approval from a majority of all voters participating in the election to pass.