As Parliament prepares to address the issue of a state for the District of Columbia this week, a new national poll shows that 54% of likely voters think DC should be a state, a record of high support .
The poll, conducted by Data for Progress and the progressive advocacy coalition Democracy for All 2021 Action and first shared with CBS News, shows that 74% of Democratic respondents agree to a state for DC, along with 34% of Republicans .
The poll found that a clear majority among likely voters in urban (57%) and suburban (56%) areas, as well as in swing states (57%), support the DC state to allow for voting representation in Congress. About half of the country’s rural voters agree.
On Monday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on a bill to establish DC as the 51st state in the country.
In January, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District in Congress as a non-voting delegate, reintroduced HR 51, creating Washington State, Douglass Commonwealth – named after Frederick Douglass. The measure would give DC two US senators and a voting representative in the House.
The House passed a bill last year to make DC a state with a vote of 232-180, but it died in the Republican-led Senate.
State advocates hope this time is different, as Democrats now control the House, Senate, and White House.
“Adding a state in DC and adding a state shouldn’t be about politics. It’s about equality. It’s about democracy,” said Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Monday. “It is the responsibility of Congress to ensure that Americans receive the full rights required by the Constitution.”
The bill has 215 co-sponsors and its passage in the House of Representatives is almost inevitable. Delaware Democrat Senator Tom Carper has introduced an accompanying bill in the Senate, signing 40 of the 50 Democratic Senators as co-sponsors. Senate leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to bring the bill to the Senate floor.
Proponents argue that a state in DC is necessary because the majority of the city’s black and brown population loses the right to vote due to their lack of representation in Congress. DC would be the only pluralistic black state in the country if the state were to succeed.
Norton and other advocates note that DC pays more in federal taxes than 21 states and more per capita than any state, according to the 2019 IRS data. The district also has a larger population than Vermont and Wyoming, but has limited non-voting representation in Congress – Norton may legislate, but cannot vote. DC has no vote in the United States Senate.
Norton was encouraged by the poll’s findings. “This has now captured the majority of US voters, leading us to believe that the motto, ‘tax without representation,’ is disappearing,” she told CBS News in an interview. She alleged that Congressional hearings on the bill last year informed Americans of how little authority district officials have over their own territory. Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over the nation’s capital, which means that local legislation, including the DC budget, must be approved by Congress.
The uprising at the Capitol and the delay in obtaining reinforcements from the National Guard “helped educate the American people further because the then president prevented our National Guard in Washington from saving the Capitol on January 6,” Norton said. “They have been delayed by three hours. And during those three hours a lot of damage has been done”
Governors have the authority to deploy their national guard, but in the district, that power rests with the federal government. “Even if you don’t control your own National Guard, you can’t save the Capitol and you may not even be able to save yourself.”
Norton has introduced a bill that would allow the district mayor to activate the DC National Guard, and she expects it to pass the house.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, Mayor of DC, told lawmakers Monday at the hearing to lawmakers, “I was born in Washington, DC, and for generations of my family, by not choosing, has been denied the fundamental right promised to all Americans,” the right to full representation in Congress. The simple fact is – denying American citizens a vote in the body that entrusts them goes against the tenets of this great nation. glaring civil and voting rights issues of our time. “
She has urged Congress to send the state bill to President Biden, who has said in the past that he is in favor of it. In a briefing last week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that he still believes district residents “deserve representation,” adding, “that’s why he supports the state of DC.”
But the state is facing fierce opposition from Republicans, who claim it is an attempt by Democrats to bolster their majority by adding more seats in Congress. DC voters are predominantly Democratic – President Biden won 92% of the district’s vote.
The House Oversight Committee’s top member, Congressman James Comer, says the bill is “actually Plan B of the Democrats’ political power grab. Plan A was to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate.” After pointing out that the Democrats do not yet have the backing to do so, he accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of using “ an unconstitutional bill ” to make Washington, DC the 51st state, saying it was part of the “radical leftist agenda to reform America, along with the Green New Deal, to disprove the police and wrap up the US Supreme Court.” “
Mitch McConnell, Senate minority leader, has referred to the state of DC as “full-bore socialism.”
Republican congressman Jody Hice from Georgia argued that the district is just not like other states. “Washington would be the only state, the only state without an airport,” he said. ‘Without a car dealer. Without capital. No landfill … If there’s a car dealer in DC, I apologize for being wrong. I have no idea where it is. ‘
And Zack Smith, a legal fellow at the Conservative Heritage Foundation, argued that making DC a state is contrary to the Framers’ intent.
Framers also wanted to prevent one state from undoing influence on the federal government. There is no doubt that DC residents are already influencing the national debate, he said. “For the members here today, how many of you have seen DC signs or bumper stickers or banners on your way to this hearing today? I certainly did. Where else in the country could such simple actions reach so many members of Congress?
Although Democrats have a razor-thin majority in the Senate, the bill would need 10 Republican supporters to overcome a filibuster blocking the bill. State activists have called for the filibuster to be abolished, allowing the measure to be approved by just 51 votes.
There is currently a heated debate in the Senate about filibuster reform or abolition. In an interview with ABC News last week, President Biden approved a return to the “talking filibuster,” which would require a senator to constantly speak on the ground to support an objection to a bill. At the moment, however, the Democrats don’t have the votes to eliminate it.
But even if the measure fails this year, Norton remains hopeful. “In 2022, I think we will have a better chance of a state in both houses,” she said, based on her belief that Democrats will maintain their lead in Parliament and expand their majority in the Senate.
Anytime the state faces congressional hearings or is brought to the floor for a vote, the issue gets more attention, she said. “I make good use of it every time we do it to increase support for DC statehood across the country,” Norton said. “… Statehood is a big law, a big change in our country, but it’s a change that the polls show that the American people want to see.”