Today’s episode of The Empty Office Podcast features an interview with one of the Shadow Senators for Washington, D.C.. Paul Strauss was elected as a Shadow Senator in 1996 and is a staunch advocate for statehood for Washington, D.C.
Shadow Senators are publicly elected officials who represent U.S. districts without a congressional vote, like Washington, D.C.. Prior to statehood, Alaska was called the District of Alaska and had Shadow Senators working in the same fashion as Senator Strauss. Colombia and Puerto Rico also currently have authorized shadow delegations to Congress.
During this interview, Senator Tobin and Senator Strauss discuss a resolution sponsored by Senator Tobin to support Washington, D.C. statehood. Senate Joint Resolution 6 has been passed out of the Senate State Affairs and Judiciary Committees. The resolution is now in the Senate Rules Committee. The next step for the resolution is a vote on the floor of the State Senate.
On March 10, Senator Strauss and his colleague Senator Ankit Jain were invited to testify during a hearing for SJR 6 in the Senate Judiciary Committee. That hearing was very informative about the Washington, D.C. statehood effort and sparked a vigorous discussion between the Shadow Senators and Senators who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
