U.S. lawmakers push for binding vote on Puerto Rican statehood

Some U.S. lawmakers are making a major push to give Puerto Ricans a real shot at deciding whether to become a state.

Driving the news: Members of Congress were in San Juan this weekend for contentious public hearings on a draft bill known as the The Puerto Rico Status Act.

The bill, not yet introduced but modeled after two competing bills introduced last year in Congress, would set a binding referendum on statehood for November 2023.

Puerto Ricans would be able to decide whether they want statehood, independence, or an independence that retains certain links to the U.S.