Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act

The Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act was a bill introduced during the 116th United States Congress. The intention of the bill was to grant Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, admission into the Union as a state.

Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act
Full titleTo enable the admission of Puerto Rico as a State of the Union, and for other purposes.
Introduced in116th United States Congress
Introduced onOctober 29, 2019
Number of co-sponsors60
Legislative history

Background
Main article: Political status of Puerto Rico

In 1898, following the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico and its surrounding archipelago to the United States. Initially run by the military, from 1900 onwards measures began to be enacted giving the people of Puerto Rico a measure of local civilian government, while bringing the population more within the larger community of the United States. This began with the establishment of the elected House of Delegates in 1900, while in 1902 the post of Resident Commissioner was established.[1] The Resident Commissioner was a non-voting member, similar to other non-voting members of the House of Representatives, intended to represent the interests of Puerto Rico in the United States Congress. However, unlike other territories, Puerto Rico's was not named as a "delegate", as it was argued that such a title gave an implication that the territory was on the road towards becoming a state, which was not guaranteed for possessions obtained as a result of war.[1] In 1917 the Jones–Shafroth Act saw the creation of an elected Senate, as well as granting U.S. citizenship to all Puerto Ricans born after April 25, 1898.[2] In 1947, the Elective Governor Act granted Puerto Rico the right to its own elected governor for the first time,[3] while in 1950 Puerto Rico was granted the right to hold a constitutional convention, with a view to the territory having its own constitution. Approved in a referendum in 1952, the new Puerto Rican constitution changed the status of the territory into that of an unincorporated "Commonwealth". In this context, Puerto Rico is a territory that is controlled by the Federal government, but in which the full provisions of the Constitution are not in force.[4]

Statehood movement
Main article: Statehood movement in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is the largest of the United States' overseas territories, both in terms of size and population, with its status meaning that its population of around 3 million, all of whom are US citizens, are not entitled to vote for their head of state, or have full representation in the Congress. Becoming a state would allow Puerto Rico full representation, giving it two members of the United States Senate, as well as a number of members of the House of Representatives, apportioned according to its population - based on 2019 estimates using the Huntington–Hill method, Puerto Rico would be entitled to four seats in the House.[5] Statehood would also give Puerto Rico a number of votes in the electoral college responsible for electing the President. Statehood would also allow Puerto Rico greater access to federal funding programmes that states enjoy, an issue that became increasingly apparent following recent natural disasters that have affected the island, most notably Hurricane Maria in 2017, the effects of which caused as much as $90 billion worth of damage, with the response of the federal government being heavily criticised.[6]

In 2017, following the success of the pro-statehood Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) in gaining control of the Legislative Assembly, as well as the governorship, Puerto Rico followed the example of Washington, D.C. by appointing a delegation of shadow congresspeople, with two senators and five representatives.[7] The purpose of this delegation, set up by the Puerto Rico Equality Commission, is to lobby the United States Congress over the question of statehood.

A number of referenda have been held on Puerto Rico's potential future status, with the first of these taking place in 1967. Since the first, these have seen support for statehood steadily increase, even as the set up of each referendum has altered.[8] Prior to 2019, the most recent was held in 2017, and saw 97% choose statehood as the option. However, this was on a turnout of just over 22%, as a result of a boycott of the vote by many of Puerto Rico's major political parties.[9]

In 2017, Jenniffer González Colón, the non-voting Resident Commissioner, introduced a bill into the House of Representatives requiring the Congress support the holding of a vote on Puerto Rico's status and, in the event of a vote in favour of statehood, that it undertake the necessary preparations, including the amendment or repeal of legislation related to Puerto Rico as a territory, prior to Puerto Rico being admitted by 3 January 2025.[10] This bill was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources, but did not reach a vote on the floor of the House.

In October 2019, a new bill was introduced by José E. Serrano, a Democratic congressman from New York, who was born in Puerto Rico, intended to bring about Puerto Rico's admission. Unlike the previous bill, which had just a single cosponsor, this received a total of 60 cosponsors, including 42 Democrats and 18 Republicans. As with the 2017 bill, it was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, but did not reach a vote in the full House.[11]

Provisions

The Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act set out a number of individual provisions related to Puerto Rico's potential admission as a state into the union:

  • The holding of a plebiscite on self-determination as part of the 2020 United States elections. This plebiscite to take the form of a yes/no question
    • "Do you approve Puerto Rico’s admission as a State of the Union on equal footing with all other States?"
  • Upon receipt of a certified result in favour of statehood, the Governor of Puerto Rico will announce the dates and requirements for the election of two members of the United States Senate and one member of the United States House of Representatives. Puerto Rico will initially receive one member of the House of Representatives until the next regularly scheduled election, after which it will receive a number of seats based on the apportionment process.
  • Upon receipt of a certified result in favour of statehood, the President of the United States will issue a proclamation declaring the date of Puerto Rico's admission as a state, which must be not more than 30 months after the certification of the results of the plebiscite.
  • Upon admission as a state, all laws, officials and obligations of the current territory shall continue without alteration.

A corresponding bill, the Law for the Final Definition of the Political Status of Puerto Rico, was introduced in Puerto Rico's Legislative Assembly, being approved by both Houses in March 2020.[12] It was through this that the 2020 plebiscite was held, which provided a majority in favor of statehood.

Opinion

Although the 2020 plebiscite provided a majority in favor of statehood, there has been much written since it took place pointing out that the turnout was a little over 52%, with 623,000 of the 2.3 million registered voters in Puerto Rico voting for statehood.[13] While opinion polls among the population in the United States seem to favor Puerto Rico's admission, support for which has been relatively high since the 1960s,[14] in Puerto Rico itself there is a seemingly higher degree of ambivalence to the idea, based on Puerto Rico's national identity, which may potentially be lost were it to become a full part of the United States. This can be illustrated by the fact that the pro-independence Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño candidate for governor received 14% of the vote in the 2020 election.[15]

Although statehood has formed part of the party platforms of both major parties in the United States, senior figures in the Republican Party have publicly indicated their opposition to the admission of Puerto Rico, with Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, saying in 2019 that moves to admit Puerto Rico, as well as Washington D.C., amounted to "full-bore socialism", with both potential new states likely to return perpetual Democratic members of the Senate, and so the Republican majority would oppose the entry of both.[16] This is in spite of evidence that voters in Puerto Rico may well be more conservative than voters in Washington DC – at the time of the 2020 vote, the Governor, Resident Commissioner, Speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives and President of the Puerto Rico Senate, although all members of the pro-statehood PNP, also sat as conservative Republicans.[17][18] Despite the seemingly fixed position of the Senate leadership, legislators of both parties, following the result of the 2020 vote, have indicated a willingness to open the debate of Puerto Rico's status in Congress.[19]

See also

References
  1. Rundquist, Paul S. "Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico". congressionalresearch.com. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  2. Levinson, Sanford; Sparrow, Bartholomew H. (2005). The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion: 1803–1898. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 166, 178. U.S. citizenship was extended to residents of Puerto Rico by virtue of the Jones Act, chap. 190, 39 Stat. 951 (1971)(codified at 48 U.S.C. § 731 (1987))
  3. "Rama Ejecutiva" (in Spanish). Gobierno del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. Archived from the original on 2007-08-13. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  4. U.S. Insular Areas Application of the U.S. Constitution, GAO Nov 1997 Report, p. 24. Viewed June 14, 2013.
  5. "Population, Population Change, and Estimated Components of Population Change: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019 (NST-EST2019-alldata)". Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on January 26, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  6. Coto, Dánica (May 16, 2020). "Puerto Rico to hold statehood referendum amid disillusion". The Associated Press. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  7. Bernal, Rafael (January 10, 2018). "Puerto Rico announces shadow congressional delegation". The Hill. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  8. 2005 President's Task Force. Page 4 Archived 2007-09-25 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. "PDP to boycott status referendum". 20 April 2017. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  10. H.R. 260
  11. H.R. 4901
  12. "P.S.1467 - Law for the Final Solution of the Political Status of Puerto Rico". Sistema Único de Trámite Legislativo (SUTRA). Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  13. "Plebiscite: Island Wide Results". Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  14. McCarthy, Justin (18 July 2019). "Americans Continue to Support Puerto Rico Statehood". Gallup. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  15. Panzardi Serra, Diego (11 November 2020). "The Meaningless Vote for Puerto Rican Statehood". Harvard Political Review. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  16. Daugherty, Alex (18 June 2019). "Senate leader McConnell calls support for Puerto Rico statehood 'socialist'". Miami Herald. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  17. Flores, Carlos (3 December 2020). "Puerto Rico Statehood Represents An Opportunity for the GOP". The Capitolist. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  18. Gamboa, Suzanne (6 December 2020). "What do Senate runoffs in Georgia have to do with Puerto Rico statehood?". NBC News. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  19. Córdova, Andrés (11 November 2020). "Puerto Rico's statehood piques Congress's interest post-election". The Hill. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
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