SCOTUS to US Territories: You are Colonies

Status questions are now settled for Puerto Rico and other United States territories. They will remain congressional dependencies with little to no self-determination—colonies, in effect—until Congress says otherwise, allowing them to become states or become independent. This week, the Supreme Court decided a case involving Puerto Rico’s debt structure and chose whether to hear a case involving birthright citizenship in American Samoa, two final rulings in a collection of legal challenges from the territories. A ruling in Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust and a denial of review for Tuaua v. United States on Monday effectively ended a budding theory of self-determination in these areas and confirmed a federal legal view of territories that was established during the height of American imperialism.

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Puerto Rico's Governor Protests U.S. Solicitor General Brief

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla has denounced what he is calling a change in the U.S. government's historic position on the island's political status.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, portions of which were released Sunday by the governor's office, Garcia Padilla said the new stance contradicts the U.S. past position that the autonomy Puerto Rico gained through the approval of its 1952 constitution should remove it from the U.N.'s list of non-self-governing territories.

"I believe it is my moral obligation to defend and to clarify the historic record, not only before us, but before the courts, the United States and the international community," Garcia Padilla wrote.

Last week U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli filed a friend of the court brief arguing that Puerto Rico remains a territory under the powers of the U.S. Congress despite the increased autonomy its constitution granted.

"Puerto Rico's transition to local self-government was a significant development in its relationship to the United States, and it has yielded many benefits for Puerto Rico and the United States in a relationship of mutual respect. Congress has evinced no intention to revoke the local autonomy it has vested in the government of Puerto Rico. But as a constitutional matter, Puerto Rico remains a territory subject to Congress's authority under the Territory Clause," Verrilli stated in the brief.

The filing is in connection of a U.S. Supreme Court review of a case that will determine if Puerto Rico, like the 50 states, can file local charges against people for crimes of which they have already been convicted by federal authorities. The answer centers on whether Puerto Rico is a "separate sovereign" for purposes of the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment Double Jeopardy clause. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the island is not a separate sovereign because Congress' decision to permit local self-government involved a "delegation of powers" not a "transfer of sovereignty."

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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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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.

[...]

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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The Puerto Rican Referendum: Another Big Vote of the Day

Today everyone has their eyes on the US Presidential Election especially, but the congressional races as well.  However, there has been another, potentially big referendum.  Puerto Rico is voting whether or not to change their status.  Should they remain a territory?  (A colony effectively) Seek Independence?  Seek Statehood?  Or become independent in the manner that the Pacific Trust Territories did.

Its possible they could have PR start seeking to become a state.  They would need to get Congress to sign off.  However, it would be exciting to add another state to the union and work towards fixing the mess that has been the festering fallout from the Insular Cases.

Friend and wiser one, Noel, though thinks that they would just stay a territory.  Change is scary.

My hopes are for statehood.  We'll see how it goes.

HR 3940: Educate Guam on the Status Question Options

HR 3940 IH

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3940
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to extend grants and other assistance to facilitate a political status public education program for the people of Guam.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 27, 2009

Ms. BORDALLO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to extend grants and other assistance to facilitate a political status public education program for the people of Guam.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

Congress reaffirms that it is the responsibility of the Secretary of the Interior to advance the economic, social, and political development of the Territories of the United States.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR POLITICAL STATUS PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAM.

The Secretary of the Interior may, in exercise of the administrative authority granted under section 3 of the Organic Act of Guam (48 U.S.C. 1421a), extend to the Government of Guam and its agencies and instrumentalities assistance, including assistance in the form of grants, research, planning assistance, studies, and agreements with Federal agencies, to facilitate a public education program regarding political status options for the Territory of Guam.

US Virgin Islands Status

While everyone keeps talking about Puerto Rico and its upcoming chance to become a new state (woo!), there are other US Territories that are undergoing some nontrivial status changes. One of those happens to be the US Virgin Islands. Quietly, oh so quietly, at least on the mainland, the Virgin Islands has been trying to adopt a constitution. Again.

This is not a new endeavor, but it has been a generation since they attempted it. Last time the Virgin Islands attempted to adopt their own constitution was in 1980. The voters rejected the document: there must be at least a 50% + 1 approval for it to pass. Apparently, the definition of just who is a Virgin Islander caused the failure. There were previous attempts as well. There's a quick write up over of the history of the past attempts.

Last summer they had an election to determine who would be sitting as delegates for this new attempt at a constitutional convention. The results came in and were promptly disputed in court. Big Surprise. However, despite the delay, the convention is underway. Once it's complete the Constitution must go to the voters. It, too, needs a 50% + 1 votes to go to the next step and more than 50% of the voters need to participate in the plebiscite. The US Virgin Islands Constitution is then sent on to the President and US Congress for approval (or rejection or modification, if I am not mistaken).

The problem is that the voters have uberdoubleplus apathy. There is serious concern whether or not there will be enough voters to participate in the vote to get more than 50% as required just to participate. If less than that turns out, then the whole thing falls apart. It may restart. Or it may languish for another generation.