Ever since Hawaii was admitted as a US state in 1959, the United States has had a nice,
even 50 states, seemingly bringing an end to American expansion, but there are still
more places vying for statehood, not from outside, but from within, and of course one
of these places seeking better representation in the US Capitol is the area that holds the
US Capitol itself, Washington DC.
The debate around DC statehood has been growing in support over recent years, but why does
such a small area want to gain statehood, and more importantly, what would DC be like
if it were to become the 51st state?
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Now of course the question of DC statehood is a politically charged one, as many say
it could potentially shift the future of the US Congress, and so DC faces an uphill battle
to becoming a state, but we’re not here to discuss anything about that.
Let’s just say, for whatever reason, by whatever means, DC just becomes a state, what
would transpire next?
And I don’t mean what happens to the House and the Senate, or why their current members
might want the debate to go one way or the other, I mean what will happen locally to
DC, its residents, and all the federal buildings within?
Well first, before we take a look at what might happen, perhaps we should understand
what DC residents want out of their district becoming a state, and why and how everything
ended up the way it has today.
It‘s important to remember, way back in the days back yonder, back when saying “Washington”
referred to a person and not a place, that the states weren’t created by dividing the
new country into 13 pieces, rather it was these 13 former colonies coming together that
created the United States.
This is actually a huge difference, essentially it’s the difference between setting up a
colony and dividing it for simplicity, versus setting up 13 different colonies and having
them all come together… against you.
Basically what I mean is that the states all had their own separate interests and rivalries
at the time.
It was thus decided in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that the responsibility
of controlling and managing the US capital should be up to the federal government, to
keep the capital out of the control of any of the states and thus maintain a balance
of power.
[The Congress shall have Power] To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever,
over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states,
and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States.
This district came into being with the states of Maryland and Virginia ceding a diamond-shaped
piece of land around the Potomac River to the federal government to build a capital
city, from where they could govern the country without getting caught up in state politics.
It is for this reason that one critique of DC statehood is that it would require a constitutional
amendment, however legislation put forward by DC‘s non-voting delegate Eleanor Holmes
Norton would not eliminate the federal district outright, rather it would simply shrink the
federally-run area to a small complex of federal buildings, places like the White House, the
Capitol building, the National Mall-- you know, all those places you‘ve seen in the
movies.
Also, since it would no longer be a district, its name would go from “Washington, District
of Columbia” to “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth”, so kind of interesting how
the state will be named after two different people at the same time.
Eleanor Holmes Norton by the way is DC’s non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives,
which means she represents DC and can introduce legislation, but just can’t vote on any
of it, including any that might directly affect the District.
DC would definitely be the smallest state by area, far smaller than Rhode Island, but
despite this it would only be the third least populous state, beating out the much larger
but far sparser Vermont and Wyoming.
At a GDP of $144.6 billion however, it would have the 34th highest GDP of any state, beating
out Arkansas but just behind Kansas.
DC’s economy is of course largely propped up by government jobs, as well as private
firms based in the District to work with said federal government.
With such a small population though, this also gives DC an outlandishly high GDP per
capita, at $160,000 as of 2018, placing it far into first place.
As it currently stands, the District of Columbia does have its own local government, but one
mostly under the control of the US Congress, especially regarding budgets and local taxes.
On a local level, DC is organized much more like a city-- which it technically isn’t,
but still-- led by a mayor, an elected Council of 13 members, as well as 37 Advisory Neighborhood
Commissions, and of course an Attorney General and the understandably less famous Superior
Court, all granted in the 1973 Home Rule Act.
The mayor has the power to approve or veto bills passed by the Council, and also oversees
police and fire departments, public services, public spaces, services, and schools within
the District.
Congress however can still veto any legislation passed by the local government, and can even
pass legislation without approval of DC’s residents or government.
States by contrast aren’t under such heavy control of Congress, and elect their own governors
and legislatures and judiciaries which manage laws and services within their own borders,
often legalizing things that are illegal on the federal level.
Within DC though, states also elect a varying number of Representatives depending on population,
and 2 Senators regardless of population to the US Congress.
This, for those of you unfamiliar with the debate, is why DC statehood is such a fierce
debate among politicians from all across the country.
It’s not just the moral argument of giving voting rights to 700,000 Americans, or the
historical argument that DC was not meant to be a state, as DC becoming a state would
effectively give two more Senate seats to the Democratic Party (as DC is heavily Democratic).
Some have also proposed returning DC to Maryland (an idea called retrocession), which would
give District residents a political voice as residents of Maryland, but which does not
have strong support from residents of DC or Maryland, and in fact has little support from
the Democratic Party in general, and is actually more pushed by Republicans for… obvious
reasons.
All this however is a story for any of the other channels out there crazy enough to light
their own comments sections on fire!
That’s all well and good, but what would happen to all the areas that need to be under
national control and not state control, like in the original laws that created the District
of Columbia?
Well remember, the Federal District wouldn’t disappear, it would just be shrunk down to
an area where almost none of the residents live but almost all of the politicians and
the tourists go.
The real question however is, would DC statehood actually affect the Federal District all that
much, now that it’s you know a lot stronger than in 1790?
Well it’s hard to say, but actually a lot of important buildings and areas under federal
control and ownership, like Arlington National Cemetery, or the Pentagon, or the CDC Headquarters,
or the Kennedy Space Center, or military bases, are all still within state borders, but obviously
not state control.
These areas generally fall under the jurisdiction of federal lands, and I would highly recommend
this video from CGP Grey if you want to better understand what exactly federal land is.
Of course, while this would be something very new to the United States, the national capital
being a city and a state at the same time would not be anything unique to the world.
Germany’s capital Berlin for example is simultaneously the largest city in Germany
and one of its 16 states (Bundesländer).
Berlin-- as well as the other city-states of Hamburg and Bremen-- naturally work a little
different from other German states, but they are still treated more or less the same as
bigger states like Niedersachsen or Hesse or Bavaria.
Of course, even as someone originally from the DC area, it’s not up to me, and I don’t
want to sway anyone’s vote either way, because ultimately-- even though this has huge implications
in Congress-- this is about the future of DC’s 700,000 residents.
And, just as my only opinion in this video, I think they for once should be the ones who
decide what happens to the place they live.
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