Subcommittee OKs Bill to Make Capital a State

A House subcommittee Tuesday approved a bill to grant the District of Columbia statehood, the first step in a long legislative process that proponents hope will lead to the creation of a 51st state.

The bill, approved 4 to 3 by the House District Committee’s subcommittee on fiscal affairs and health, would create the state of New Columbia and grant it full voting representation in the House and Senate, a right the 630,000 residents of the city of Washington do not have now.

Statehood would stop congressional review of all city legislation and its budget, but federal lands would not be part of the new state and would remain under federal control.

The full House committee is to consider the bill today.

Amendment Failed

An earlier attempt to give district residents voting rights in Congress failed when a constitutional amendment calling for one voting member of the House and two senators for the city won approval of only 16 of the required 38 states before expiring in 1985.

The new statehood route is being pursued on the theory that Congress has the right to admit a new state to the United States without going to state legislatures.

The subcommittee approved the measure after amending it to include a proposed statehood constitution that would replace the mayor and City Council with a governor and 25-member Legislature.