Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the people of PR rejected statehood at least 3 times so far when it was brought to a vote? It's not the people of PR who are petitioning, it's the lackeys of the democrat party who are pushing it...and in this case it's congress who are pushing it, not PR.
That's what I understood to be the case -- they voted on whether they wanted independence, statehood or continued Commonwealth status, and Commonwealth always won. Again -- as I understand it -- Commonwealth status carries most of the benefits of statehood, but there are tax breaks (I forget the details of what I heard, but I remember thinking maybe I should apply for Commonwealth status! LOL!).