Bill paving way for Puerto Rico statehood referendum introduced in US House News
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Bill paving way for Puerto Rico statehood referendum introduced in US House

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday would authorize a referendum on Puerto Rican statehood, to be voted on by the commonwealth’s citizens on November 3, 2020. Such a referendum would mark the third time Puerto Ricans have voted on statehood since 2012.

Puerto Rico’s non-voting representative Jenniffer González-Colón says that statehood is needed in order for Puerto Rico to achieve political equity.

Puerto Ricans, while US citizens cannot vote in general presidential elections, nor are they represented by a voting representative in Congress. Puerto Ricans’ lack of input in Washington has also been especially felt as the island continues its attempts to recover from the massive damage done by Hurricane Maria in 2017. In a 2018 survey, a majority of respondents agreed that the federal government’s response to the disaster would have been better had Puerto Rico been a state.

Even if a majority of Puerto Ricans vote in favor of statehood in 2020, the result of the vote is not legally binding and will not result in statehood unless Congress decides to act on it. Congress has declined to take this step in response to previous votes, including in 2012 when 61% of Puerto Ricans supported statehood.

Currently, the bill has 45 sponsors and bipartisan support in the House.

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