Puerto Rican Governor Rossello to Immediately Push for Statehood

Puerto Rico's new governor was sworn in Monday, promising an immediate push for statehood in a territory facing a deep economic crisis.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello, 37, proposed several measures aimed at alleviating the crisis shortly after he was sworn in at midnight. Among them is a proposal to hold a referendum that would ask voters whether they prefer statehood or independence. Many have argued that Puerto Rico's political status has contributed to its decade-long crisis that has prompted more than 200,000 people to flee to the U.S. mainland in recent years.

"The United States cannot pretend to be a model of democracy for the world while it discriminates against 3.5 million of its citizens in Puerto Rico, depriving them of their right to political, social and economic equality under the U.S. flag," Rossello said in his inaugural speech, delivered in Spanish. "There is no way to overcome Puerto Rico's crisis given its colonial condition."

The crowd rose to its feet and cheered as Rossello announced that he would fly to Washington, D.C., Monday to back a bill to admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state.

He also said he would soon hold elections to choose two senators and five representatives to Congress and send them to Washington to demand statehood, a strategy used by Tennessee to join the union in the 18th century. The U.S. government has final say on whether Puerto Rico can become a state.

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In a bit of a flashback, President Ford called for Puerto Rico to become a state in 1977.

Government Accountability Office Report on Puerto Ricoan Statehood Released

The Government Accountability Office is projecting that Puerto Rico would receive billions of additional federal dollars if it became a state, with some observers predicting the report will rekindle the statehood debate over the financially troubled island.

The GAO report, released Monday, estimates that federal spending on many programs would increase by hundreds of millions or billions of dollars if Puerto Rico became the 51st state. That would potentially allow the commonwealth's government to use its revenues to address its mounting debt problem, spurred by the popularity of its bonds, which are tax-exempt at the federal, state, and local levels.

The bonds were downgraded to speculative grade by all three major rating agencies earlier this year. The study did not produce specific figures, but projects possible spending ranges for various categories.

Many of the most significant changes would likely involve social welfare spending. The GAO said Medicare spending could increase by as much as $1.5 billion annually under statehood, while Medicaid spending could increase from about $400 million to about $1.5 billion per year. However, the report also said spending on Medicare could remain almost flat, depending on the number people eligible to receive it. Supplemental security income spending on the island could increase very much to between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion from roughly $24 million on a similar federal program in 2011, according to the report.

The report estimated a roughly $115 million annual increase in federal highway spending. Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens, would also pay the U.S. government about another $2 billion annually in federal income taxes, the report states. Corporate income tax from companies operating in Puerto Rico might increase between $700 million and $5 billion according to the GAO, but some businesses might leave Puerto Rico if they lose the favorable corporate tax climate they currently enjoy there. Under special multi-year agreements with Puerto Rico, some of these corporations pay corporate income tax rates far below the commonwealth's maximum rate of 39%. Instead they pay a special excise tax, the legality of which has been questioned by some observers and even the Internal Revenue Service.

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Puerti Rico Referendum Bill Introduced to Senate

Puerto Rico just took a small step in the direction of becoming the 51st U.S. state.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) submitted legislation Wednesday that would mandate a referendum asking Puerto Rican residents if the island should become a U.S. state in an up-or-down vote. The Senate resolution, called the Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act, is an identical companion version to legislation already filed in the House by the island’s non-voting representative, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi.

“In 2012, 54 percent of Puerto Ricans rejected their current relationship with the United States,” Heinrich said in a press release. “We have a responsibility to act on that referendum, and this step is critical in that effort. My home state of New Mexico spent 66 years as a territory before gaining statehood in 1912 -- the longest of any state. Puerto Rico has spent nearly 116 years as an American territory. That’s long enough.”

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US Congress Funds Puerto Rico Plebiscite: Options? U.S. statehood, independence, and nationhood in an association

The U.S. Congress has agreed with President Obama on authorizing a plebiscite in Puerto Rico on the territory’s ultimate political status.

The final approval came Thursday night with the U.S. Senate’s passage of a bill to provide funding for most discretionary Federal programs through September 30th. Obama is expected to sign the bill into law.

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Puerto Rico’s Elections Commission would be given $2.5 million for a plebiscite if its proposed status option or options would resolve the question of the territory’s ultimate status and are found by the U.S. Department of Justice to not conflict with the Constitution, laws, and policies of the U.S.

The possible options are U.S. statehood, independence, and nationhood in an association with the U.S. that either nation could end. The vote could be on one or more of these options.

The current territory status could not be an option because it cannot “resolve” the question of Puerto Rico’s ultimate status. As long as Puerto Rico is a territory, Puerto Ricans can seek statehood or nationhood.

Although the current status is often misleadingly called “commonwealth” after the name of the insular government, a “Commonwealth” proposal would not qualify for the plebiscite because, as Obama’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status has pointed out, Puerto Rico would remain subject to congressional authority under the Constitution’s Territory Clause under any “Commonwealth” proposal (that is not statehood or nationhood).

Obama proposed the plebiscite because the “Commonwealth” party governor and legislative majorities of Puerto Rico elected in November 2012 disputed the results of a plebiscite held the same day under insular law. Fifty-four percent of the vote was against continuing territory status and 61.2% was for statehood among the possible alternatives. Nationhood options split the rest of the vote, with 33.3% for nationhood in an association with the U.S. and 4.5% for full independence.

The Obama Administration had supported the 2012 vote, and the President’s spokesman said afterwards that the results were “clear:” Puerto Ricans voted to resolve the question of the territory’s ultimate status (choose statehood or nationhood) and a majority chose statehood.

Concerned that lobbying by Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla against the statehood petition could result in congressional inaction on the self-determination decision of Puerto Ricans, the White House proposed another plebiscite under U.S. Justice Department auspices. The Justice Department role would make it more difficult to dispute the results.

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Puerto Rican Governor Writes Congress to Halt Status Change Bill

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla sent a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives asking them to withdraw their support for a bill for holding a statehood referendum on the island, the Web site Puerto Rico Report said.

The site released what it said was a copy of the governor’s Nov. 18 missive to a U.S. legislator.

Garcia Padilla reached out to some of the 126 House members who co-sponsored the Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act, presented last May by Puerto Rico’s non-voting delegate in Congress, Pedro Pierluisi, leader of the pro-statehood PNP party.

While insisting he supports the idea of a referendum on status, the governor cited Pierluisi’s recent comments that support for the bill is equivalent to approving statehood for Puerto Rico.

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