Puerto Rico may be edging closer than ever to officially becoming the 51st state in the United States of America.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., submitted legislation Wednesday in Washington that would call for a referendum for Puerto Ricans to vote on statehood. This is the first time a bill to actually make Puerto Rico a state has been received.

"In 2012, 54 percent of Puerto Ricans rejected their current relationship with the United States," Heinrich said in a press release. "We have a responsibility to act on that referendum, and this step is critical in that effort. My home state of New Mexico spent 66 years as a territory before gaining statehood in 1912 -- the longest of any state. Puerto Rico has spent nearly 116 years as an American territory. That's long enough."

The "Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act" is, in fact, identical to legislation already filed in the House of Representatives by Puerto Rico's non-voting representative, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi.

However, the referendum carried only 46 percent in support of becoming a state, and last year President Obama remarked that he believed Congress would have to see a "strong" desire on the part of Puerto Ricans to actually become a state in order to get the wheels of Congress moving in that direction.

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla wants the island nation to remain a U.S. Commonwealth, with a broad scope of autonomy. Puerto Ricans have been considered U.S. citizens since 1917 and it has been a Free Associated State since 1952.

All of this is occurring amid a financial crisis in Puerto Rico that follows seven years of recession. Just last week, Puerto Rico's bond debt was reduced to "Junk" status by Moody's, as well as Standard and Poor's. The latter caused Puerto Rico to have to raise more than $940 million in payments brought into effect by the downgrade.

"In the past eight years, Puerto Rico's ticker tape of woes has stretched unabated: $70 billion in debt, a 15.4 percent unemployment rate, a soaring cost of living, pervasive crime, crumbling schools and a worrisome exodus of professionals and middle-class Puerto Ricans who have moved to places like Florida and Texas," noted Lizette Alvarez of the New York Times.

"The situation has grown so dire that this tropical island, known for its breathtaking beaches, salsero vibe and tax breaks, is now mentioned in the same breath as Detroit, with one significant difference. Puerto Rico, a United States territory of 3.6 million people that is treated in large part like a state, cannot declare bankruptcy."