Most US citizens does not like the Federal Government to be able to come into their homes and tell them how they are supposed to live. Washington, DC can afford to be a state: DC residents pay the highest per-capita federal income taxes in the US. In her testimony before the Council of the District of Columbia, Special Committee on Statehood and Self Determination, Alice Rivlin explores the fiscal implications of DC statehood. "DC should be a state. House Democrats passed a bill Friday to make Washington, D.C., the 51st U.S. state, a historic move unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-held Senate. But it’s not entirely clear if Puerto Ricans, unlike D.C. residents, want the island to become a state.Opponents say D.C. statehood would violate the intentions of the Founders, who wanted the nation’s capital to be independent from a single state’s political influence.

The Senate is split 53-47, the majority held by Republicans. The fight over where the federal government should be located was one of the defining arguments of the early years of American democracy — with Southern states refusing to accept any plan for it to be in the North and vice versa. In a 2016 referendum, 86 percent of Washington residents voted in favor of the district’s becoming a state. Never has such a bill -- appropriately titled HR-51 -- cleared the House or Senate. They also argue that lawmakers from far-flung parts of the country are given the ability to override the will of local residents, as they’ve done recently on issues like gun control and abortion. Some historians argue that opposition to D.C. statehood has deeply racist roots informed by a desire to deny power to the city’s predominantly minority population. Many on the right say the statehood movement is purely political, since D.C. would almost certainly elect Democrats to the House and Senate if it became a state.Others make the case that D.C. should become part of Maryland, the state that controlled the land the city now stands on before the capital was established. US House lawmakers made history Friday by voting for Washington to become the nation's 51st state, but the move, a push for equal voting rights for the capital's residents, is doomed in the Senate.A small chorus of cheers went up as the measure passed along party lines, with all but one Democrat in support and every voting Republican opposed. It is a major source of federal dysfunction, and it’s just getting worse. This November, residents of Washington, DC, will vote on whether the District should become the 51st state. Though Washington, D.C., has gradually increased its ability to govern itself over the years — most crucially winning the right to elect its own mayor and council in 1973 — Congress still has the ability to override local decisions, especially on budgetary matters. Republicans in the Senate are expected to swiftly reject the bill, however, continuing a legacy of partisan sparring over the District of Columbia that has been going on for more than two centuries. But like animals on Noah’s ark, states have historically entered the union in pairs, with lawmakers using new states to maintain the balance of partisan power — or at least try to.” — Alan Greenblatt, “Unfortunately for the protesters, crabby slogans don’t trump the Constitution. A bill that would make Washington, D.C., the 51st U.S. state was approved by a Democratic-led House committee last week, setting the stage for a vote by the full chamber in the near future. "Washington DC was set apart as a seat of government, not as a part of the federation of states that the constitution grants us," Republican Jody Hice said.Washington officials have long bristled at Congress's role in the capital's affairs, as the US Constitution grants Congress the right to exercise control over the city's business "in all cases whatsoever." … We cannot rely on people who do not live in the District to fix the problems that are tearing our community apart.” — Jamal Holtz, “By 2040, more than half of the population will live in just eight states, giving a disproportionate amount of electoral power to a small segment of the population that is not reflective of the majority of the country.