Illinois made history Wednesday after lawmakers voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and guarantee equal rights for all citizens regardless of sex.

The Illinois House approved the amendment 72-45, making Illinois the 37th state to ratify the federal ERA which was first proposed in 1972. The Senate approved it 43-12 in April.

Ratification requires the assent of 38 states, and the move could mean the U.S. is only one state away from a landmark change to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing equal rights for women.

House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) joins the Morning Shift to talk about the ratification of the ERA, which caps off her 40-year legislative career.

“I’m thrilled not just for the women of Illinois — we already have equal rights language in our own constitution — but what about our sisters, our daughters in Alabama, in Mississippi, Missouri, places where they do not have those kinds of protections?” Currie said Thursday morning.

GUEST: Barbara Flynn Currie, Democratic majority leader in the Illinois House

LEARN MORE: Illinois Becomes The 37th State To Ratify The Federal ERA