WASHINGTON — Legislation providing for a federally-sponsored vote on Puerto Rico's admission as a state is now pending in both chambers of Congress.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., introduced a bill on Wednesday called the Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act that is identical to a bill in the House, H.R. 2000. The bill pending in the House was introduced in May 2013 by Puerto Rico resident commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, a member of Congress.
If Puerto Rico becomes a state, it would lose the authority it has now as a commonwealth to issue triple tax-exempt bonds.
Pierluisi said the bill reflects the will of Puerto Rican voters, who are U.S. citizens by birth and who voted in favor of statehood in a plebiscite held in 2012.
"Those of us who seek equality and justice through statehood understand that this struggle requires passion and determination, but that it also demands strategic thought and action," Pierluisi said. "The filing of a Senate companion bill to H.R. 2000 demonstrates that the momentum in favor of statehood continues to build. We are closer than ever before to achieving our goal."
