state hood just got another contender. the people have puerto rico have spoken and they, too, want to become the 51st state. what does this mean for d.cfight? our ken molestina has the story. >> reporter: this restaurant doubles as a kind of de facto embassy for puerto rico. now you can add excitement over the possibility of becoming the 51st state to their menu. it was here that we ran into robert alvarez. he's the founder and executive director of the world affairs council of puerto rico. for the first time puerto ricans have voted in favor of state hood 54 to 46%. >> it's more of the american residents, the citizens of puerto rico, telling congress, hey, we don't like what we have, we need to start talking about how we're going to go forward. >> reporter: of course, d.c.'s mayor vincent gray has a lot to say about this. he's a huge pro upon ent for d.c. state hood. he wants the district to be the 51st state. >> we're glad they stepped up. perhaps we can join forces to help make the case as to why both of us should be a state. >> reporter: his words are kind but make no mistake. mayor gray is racing to get statehood for d.c. before

d.c. state hood. he applaud the puerto ricans' efforts but as you would imagine, he wants the district to be the 51st state. >> we're glad they've stepped up. perhaps we can join forces to make the case as to why we should be a state. >> reporter: make to mistake, mayor gray is vasing to get -- racing to get state hood for d.c. before anyone else does. he's gotten arrested as an act of civil disobedience to prove his point. >> they're going to have to work very hard to make the case. >> reporter: congress will make the final approval but president obama will respect the will of the puerto rican people. which that has the executive chef feeling proud of her island roots. >> it's great to be part of the democratic government that is going to allow us to really fick what we want,. >> reporter: will congress agree? downtown washington, ken molestina, 9news now. >>> at 6:36 jessica doyle has another your money report. >> counting down to the fiscal cliff. here we go. >> that's right coming out of the elect

we've reported that so many years that state hood for d.c. has been an effort for some time with no success. >>> both parties are willing to compromise on a deal to avoid that fiscal cliff. president obama called leaders to start negotiations to deal with the issue. house speaker john boehner said he's willing to compromise on raising some taxes. >> sounds good right? compromise. have we heard that lately? vice president joe biden says the obama administration is willing to compromise as well. the cliff is an across the board tax increase in spending cuts coupled at the same time and that's scheduled to kick in at the end of the year. economists say the impact could push america into another recession. >> the no steps are taken cuttings will cost you some real none. gary nuremberg as more on the sequestration issue. >> reporter: congress couldn't get a deal to cut the deficit. going off the fiscal cliff means crashing into your home. >> if we go over the fiscal cliff, we will increase taxes by $500 billion through 2013. that's an average tax