The U.S. House votes today on a bill that would let the citizens of Puerto Rico determine their future relationship with the United States, with one option possibly being that the island could become the 51st State.  But it will take more than one vote.

The bill is H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009, which was introduced last October.  It would set up a pair of votes to help determine what - if any - changes residents would like to make in their governing structure, which would include statehood and independence.

The first vote would be pretty simple, asking voters if they want things to stay the same or change.  If the change option wins, then Puerto Ricans could vote on a series of different options in a second referendum.

"This bill does not exclude any viable status option," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who is one of the few Republicans to advertise his/her support for the bill.  

She told her colleagues this week on the House floor not to quickly rule out voting for the plan simply because statehood could be one of the options involved.

"Congress has never asked those American citizens residing in Puerto Rico to express their opinion on the territory's political status," said Ros-Lehtinen.

The plan seems likely to get a lot of support from Democrats in Congress.  It has generated a lot of emails and messages to me on Twitter and Facebook in recent days, from Republicans worried about Democrats trying to add some seats for their party in the Congress.

One historical note - the exact same argument occurred when Alaska and Hawaii came into the Union as well.

Currently, Puerto Rico has "commonwealth" status.  Those living there are American citizens, but they do not pay federal income taxes, though they are hit with federal payroll taxes for Social Security.  Like Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico has a non-voting delegate in the U.S. House.

If you want to read some background on this issue, here is a link for a report by the Congressional Research Service at http://bit.ly/aoVdWD .

For the sake of argument, let's say the Congress approves this bill and allows Puerto Rico to vote.  Let's say the Puerto Rican vote is for change, and then for statehood.  Is that it?  Do we add the 51st star then?

No.  For Puerto Rico to become the 51st state, both the House and Senate would have to approve a statehood bill and have it signed into law by the President.

Of course none of that will happen if this bill can't get through the House today, or if it fails in the Senate.