The first round of the Democratic primary debates is over and candidates had the opportunity to outline their platforms and voice their policy priorities to the nation, but Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory and plans and hopes for the future has not yet entered the discussion. While popular issues relating to the economy,… Read more »

Gallup has released a new poll on Americans’ opinions on Puerto Rico statehood. The message is very clear: 66% of Americans favor statehood for Puerto Rico. Gallup has been asking this question for years. In 1963, 65% of Americans favored statehood for Puerto Rico, and this has been the majority position ever since. Some groups… Read more »

On June 4, America celebrated the 100th anniversary of Congress’s passage of the 19th Amendment. This is the constitutional amendment that gave voting rights to American women. In today’s society, you would be hard-pressed to find many Americans who oppose the Amendment that gave women the right to vote. Yet while it may seem like… Read more »

Today the House Committee on Energy and Commerce passed the “Territories Health Care Improvement Act” (H.R. 3631). Timing for full consideration by the House of Representatives has not yet been confirmed. In anticipation of the Committee’s consideration of the bill today, Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) provided the following description of H.R. 3631: H.R. 3631, introduced by… Read more »

The first ever Gallup poll on statehood for the District of Columbia has found that 64% of Americans surveyed oppose it. 29% favor statehood for D.C. and 8% are undecided. Several recent polls taken by organizations ranging from Fox News to Data for Progress have shown that people favor statehood for Puerto Rico over statehood… Read more »

Statehood for both Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. is showing up as a talking point in the 2020 presidential campaign. But can either the territory or the district become a state? A questioner at Quora thinks not. “I was told that Puerto Rico cannot be a state because there was an amendment to the Constitution… Read more »

Kenneth Caban Gonzalez moved from Puerto Rico to Georgia in 2017 and applied, after the required 30 days, for a Georgia drivers license. So far, it’s a simple story. As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans can move freely from Puerto Rico to any state, and can of course acquire a drivers license by applying in the… Read more »

Earlier today, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee passed the Territories Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 3631) on a bipartisan basis. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Pallone (D-NJ) and Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Eshoo (D-CA) spoke in support of the bill, with Eshoo calling the federal Medicaid cap “arbitrary” and  “discriminatory.” She said that “for too… Read more »

A bipartisan agreement among U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee leaders to grant Puerto Rico $12 billion for Medicaid during Federal Fiscal Years 2020-23 was announced last night. It is expected to be approved in the Health Subcommittee tomorrow and subsequently by the full Committee. Under the proposal, Puerto Rico would get $2.823… Read more »

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on June 25, 2019, titled, “Recovery, Resiliency and Readiness—Contending with Natural Disasters in the Wake of Climate Change.” This was the third in a series of hearings on climate change. Natural disasters have been greatly affected by climate change. Category 4 and 5 hurricanes are… Read more »