| |
Make DC the State of
New Columbia (Statehood) |
Make DC Part of the
State of Maryland (Retrocession) |
Pass an Equal Constitutional
Rights Amendment |
Pass an Equal Voting
Rights Amendment |
|
Would this approach grant DC
political equality, that is, the same rights as citizens who live in
states? |
Yes. |
Yes. |
No—Congress could retain authority
over issues of national security. |
No—Congress would retain exclusive
legislative authority. |
|
Could this decision be reversed? |
No. |
Yes—Unlikely, but the federal
government and the State of Maryland could agree to reverse the
decision. |
Yes—Constitutional amendments can
be changed by other Constitutional amendments. |
Yes—Constitutional amendments can
be changed by other Constitutional amendments. |
|
Would DC citizens have equal voting
rights in Senate and House of Representatives? |
Yes—DC citizens would remain a
group and elect their own representatives. |
Yes—DC citizens would become a part
of Maryland, and elect their own representatives as part of
Maryland. |
Yes—DC citizens would remain a
group and elect their own representatives. |
Yes—DC citizens would remain a
group and elect their own representatives. |
|
Would the name Washington, D.C.,
remain the same? |
No—The federal portion, known as
the National Capital Service Area (NCSA), would remain Washington,
DC, and DC’s more than 120 neighborhoods and commercial center
would become the State of New Columbia. |
No—The federal portion, known as
the NCSA, would remain Washington, DC, and DC’s more than 120
neighborhoods and commercial center would likely become a county or
be merged into counties of Maryland. |
Yes—The name would remain
Washington, D.C. Congress would retain exclusive legislative control
over the NCSA. |
Yes— The name would remain
Washington, D.C. Congress would retain exclusive legislative control
over the whole area. |
| Would DC
citizens have full and equal protections under the law? |
Yes—DC
would have full and equal constitutional rights, equal to other
states. |
Yes—DC
would have full and equal constitutional rights that citizens of
Maryland currently enjoy. |
Yes—DC
would have full and equal constitutional rights, equal to other
states, unless an area of federal interest—such as national
security—were singled out to remain under the exclusive
legislative authority of Congress. |
No—Although
DC would gain equal voting rights, DC would not be guaranteed equal
protections. |
| Would
Congress retain Exclusive Legislative authority over the District,
including the power to annul any District law or budgetary priority? |
No—DC would
have the right to republican forms of self-government. Congress
could intervene in its affairs only to the degree they can do so in
other states. |
No—DC would
have the right to republican forms of self-government as a part of
Maryland. However, the State of Maryland may have new powers over
the District. |
No—DC would
have the right to republican forms of self-government. Congress
could intervene in its affairs only to the degree they can do so in
other states, unless provided for in the Amendment. |
Yes—While
having a vote in Congress (2 of 102 in the Senate and 1 of 435 in
the House) would likely provide added voice to DC in Congress and
might forestall intervention into D.C. local issues, there would be
no guarantees that local legislation would not be annulled, or
budgetary priorities overruled. |
| Would the
current District governance structure—with a mayor, a 13-member
council, and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners—stay the same? |
No—The
governance structure currently outlined in the D.C. Constitution
passed by citizens for the State of New Columbia, which could be
modified by DC citizens, calls for a Governor and a 40-member
unicameral legislature with single member districts. |
Maybe—The
governance structure would have to be approved by the state of
Maryland, which would determine the charter for the area that would
be created. |
Maybe—The
governance structure would have to be approved by the citizens of
the District. They could keep the current structure, or establish
another one. |
Maybe—Like
now, the structure would be up to Congress to keep or change. |
| What would be
required to accomplish this? |
DC citizens
need to call a Constitutional Convention, pass a Constitution, and
request that Congress make DC a state. A simple majority of Congress
is necessary. |
The state of
Maryland, a majority of Congress, and a majority of DC citizens
would need to demonstrate majority support. |
Two-thirds of
Congress and three-fourths of the 50 states would need to support. |
Two-thirds of
Congress and three-fourths of the 50 states would need to support. |
| Has this been
attempted before? |
Yes—DC
citizens called a Constitutional Convention and approved a state
Constitution in 1982. DC currently elects 2 "shadow"
Senators and a "shadow" Representative to lobby for
statehood (this was the approach taken by many territories when they
sought statehood). In 1993, the House of Representatives voted on
and rejected DC statehood (277 against, 153 for, 4 not voting). A
bill can be reintroduced. |
Yes—Retrocession
of the portions of the District outside of Washington City was
discussed and Memorials were introduced into Congress numerous times
before the Civil War (1803, 1804, 1818, 1834, 1838, 1839, 1841)
until the southern portion south of the Potomac River was retroceded
to Virginia in 1846. Retrocession of Georgetown and Washington
County was discussed in 1848, 1850 and 1856. After the Civil War,
the discussion turned to how to bring back the Virginia portion to
the District. In recent years, some have discussed Retrocession, but
the State of Maryland has never expressed an interest. |
No. |
Yes—Even
before the District was established, DC citizens discussed passing
an Amendment for voting rights in Congress, but until the early
1900s there was little organized effort. Throughout the 20th
century there were efforts to pass an Amendment. In 1978, Congress
passed an Amendment, but time ran out before the required number of
states approved (16 of the 38 needed approved the amendment). |
| Do DC
citizens support this approach? |
In a
Washington Post representative survey of DC citizens in 2000, 58%
supported statehood, 36% opposed (A majority of Caucasians oppose). |
In a Wirthlin
representative survey of DC citizens in 1994, 19% supported merging
DC into Maryland. |
No current
survey data is available. |
No current
survey data is available. —In a representative survey of DC
citizens in 1984, 77% supported such an amendment. |
| Would the
American public support this approach? |
Maybe—Citizens
are not informed about the nature of the problem, so most are not
sure why DC citizens would want to be a state. In a Richards
nationally representative survey in 1999, 19% did not think DC
citizens should have equal voting rights in the Senate and the House
(72% did). However, 57% of those who believe DC citizens should have
equal rights say they would support DC statehood. |
Maybe—In a
Richards nationally representative survey in 1999, 19% did not think
DC citizens should have equal voting rights in the Senate and the
House (72% did). However, 59% of those who believe DC citizens
should have equal rights say they would support merging DC into
Maryland. |
Maybe—In a
Richards nationally representative survey in 1999, 19% did not think
DC citizens should have equal voting rights in the Senate and the
House (72% did). However, 82% of those who believe DC citizens
should have equal rights say they would support an amendment for
Equal Constitutional Rights for DC citizens. |
Maybe |
