In an April 30th social media post, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced his support for the Puerto Rico Status Act (PRSA).
The PRSA is one of only 105 bills that the Senate Democratic Leader has cosponsored this year. There have been more than four thousand bills introduced in the Senate during the current Congressional session, but as the Senate’s top Democrat, Sen. Schumer rarely lends his name to pending legislation.
Schumer has also cosponsored the Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Fairness Act of 2023, led by fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D), to reinstate the primary U.S. federal nutrition assistance program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/SNAP) to its most populous territory. In 2020, he sponsored another bill along with Senator Gillibrand to extend the Earned Income Tax Credit to Puerto Rico, a proposal that has since been enacted into law.
Schumer has also previously said that he would “love to make them states,” speaking of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. While he has made different statements on statehood at different times, Schumer says, “I have always supported Puerto Ricans’ right to self-determination.”
The Senate legislation (S. 3231) is a companion bill to an identical proposal passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 and reintroduced in the current Congress as H.R. 2757.
A Compromise Proposal With Statehood and Independence Options
S. 3231 is not a statehood bill; nor is it an independence bill. It is a compromise bill crafted by Puerto Rican leaders on various sides of the status question, with input from public hearings in San Juan and congressional hearings with panels of experts in Washington. The bill proposes one more referendum offering the voters of Puerto Rico a choice among three status options: statehood, independence, and independence with free association. Under the terms of the bill, Congress would be committed to taking action on the decision of Puerto Rico’s voters. The bill would effectively end Puerto Rico’s territory status.
With Schumer, the bill will have 26 cosponsors. One independent senator, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-V), is on the cosponsor list; the rest of the cosponsors at present are Democrats. The list includes Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Brian Schatz (D-HI).
The bill was introduced by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and has been sent to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where Sen. Heinrich is a senior member.
Updated on May 4
STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE ARE THE ONLY VIABLE CHOICES FOR THE PUERTO RICAN PUBLIC. THEY ARE THE ONLY CHOICES THAT WILL GIVE THE PEOPLE THE AUTONOMY THEY HAVE MORE THAN EARNED.
ALL OF THE OTHER OFFERS ARE JUST SMOKE AND MIRRORS TO CONFUSE THE PUBLIC.