President Biden strongly supports statehood for Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, which is part of the Democratic Party platform. Even conservative Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott endorse Puerto Rican statehood, conceding to the state’s Latino voters.
Republicans in other states don’t perceive Puerto Rico as a Republican-leaning state, as its constituency is non-white. However, the island is heavily Catholic, enters the military in high numbers, and often votes Republican.
Last summer, Arizona’s former Republican Senator Martha McSally warned of the dangers of a Democrat takeover in an interview with NBC News.
“They’re going to make D.C. and Puerto Rico states and get four new Democratic senators,” McSally whined. “We’d never get the Senate back again.”
Puerto Rico’s Republican Delegate, Jenniffer González, believes McSally’s fear is unfounded.
“The prospects of statehood are incredibly challenging, but they’ve been challenging for every other territory that has ever been admitted as a state,” González said. “In my lifetime, this year [offers] the best possible odds that we could have.”
52-47 in Favor of Ratification
In November, Puerto Rico voted 52 to 47 percent in favor of statehood. Because a majority of Puerto Ricans want to become part of the U.S., the territory can file a petition requiring Congressional approval.
Lawmakers last year laid the groundwork for Puerto Rico’s statehood.
The bill was introduced by Representative Darren Soto of Florida, a Democrat, and Puerto Rico’s González, who represents Republican voters. The measure also has the backing of Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat.
State supporters argue that the federal government treats Puerto Ricans like second-class citizens.
Florida’s Representative Soto notes the hardships the island has recently endured, including the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and COVID-19 under former President Trump, who considered Puerto Rico a Third World country.
“They finally decided that enough is enough,” Florida’s Representative Soto told reporters.
There are 50 cosponsors for the bill at present.
Last August, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote in an NBC News opinion piece that the island’s residents should determine for themselves whether they want statehood.
D.C. 51
Meanwhile, “lawmakers are paving the way for granting statehood to D.C., through our bill, D.C. 51,” says Elinor Holmes Norton, the Capital’s 83-year-old nonvoting House representative, who was reelected in November.
On June 26, the House voted 232-180 to approve Washington, D.C. as the 51st state.
Norton reintroduced the statehood bill in January after Democrats elected two US senators in the Georgia runoffs on January 5.
Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware reintroduced his companion bill, which currently has 39 Democratic cosponsors.
Norton plans to hold a remote press conference addressing the bill on Monday, March 22, with Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, and Senator Tom Carper, the Senate bill’s lead author.
Under the plan, the National Mall, the White House, Capitol Hill, and several other federal properties would remain under Congressional jurisdiction.
The remainder of the Capital would become a new state.
The Guardian reports that D.C.’s 700,000-plus residents – higher than the populations of Vermont and Wyoming – pay more Federal income taxes per capita than any state.
Washington, D.C. won the right to vote on November 3, 1964, the year Lyndon Johnson won the Presidency, but still lacks a voice in the House and Senate.
Puerto Rican residents can’t vote in Presidential elections.
States Ratified in Pairs
States are traditionally ratified in pairs. For example, Alaska (Red) and Hawaii (Blue) were both granted statehood in 1959.
The custom of pairing states began as the Missouri Compromise, where Maine, a free state, was approved along with Missouri, a slave state.
If two states are added to the union, the number of Senators will increase from 100 to 104, as each state receives two Senators.
According to the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, Puerto Rico, with a population of more than 3 million, would receive four representatives who would serve in the House.
D.C. would receive one seat based on the population count.
The House would remain at 435 representatives, according to UVA’s Center for Politics.
Each state automatically receives one seat in the House. The rest are divided based on population via an apportionment method known as Equal Proportions.
States likely to lose seats are New York, Florida, Texas, Montana, and Illinois.
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