Many states considering bills ending or keeping Daylight Saving Time permanently

Last year I told my readers to spring ahead for Daylight Saving Time even if you hate it.  It turned out that a lot of my readers dislike changing their clocks back and forth, making Daylight Saving Time (sucks) one of the themes for the most read entries during this blog's seventh year.  They're not alone.  Last fall, I wrote that four states were considering ending or keeping Daylight Saving Time permanently.  One of those states was California, where voters passed a proposition to remain in Daylight Saving Time year-round.  CBS 47/KSEE 24 in Fresno reported the results on its YouTube channel, the text of which I'm quoting here.

In November, California voters passed Proposition 7 by a 60-40 percent margin, paving the way for year-round daylight saving time in the nation's most populated state.

The proposition still needs a change in federal law and a two-thirds vote from the state legislature to go into effect, CBS Sacramento reports. Assembly Bill 7, proposed in December, has not yet been voted on by lawmakers, it has been referred to a committee.

Supporters pointed to a study showing an increased risk of car accidents and heart attacks following the spring change, due to the loss of an hour's sleep.

Opponents of the proposition argued that even if California voters and the legislature approve of year-round daylight saving, the hurdle of getting the federal government to approve is too high, considering the state's tense relationship with Washington.

They also say the switch will cause its own headaches. If California goes to year-round daylight saving, the sun wouldn't rise until 8 a.m. during some winter months, forcing children to walk to school or buses in darkness and likely leading to an increase in car and pedestrian accidents.

California isn't the only state that wishes to remain in Daylight Saving Time.  I also wrote about Florida's Sunshine Protection Act, which requires Congressional action to be implemented.  That hasn't happened yet, so Fox 4 in Naples/Ft. Myers reported Florida legislators push to make daylight savings time year-round.


CBS Miami has a better description.

A group of Florida lawmakers are tired of the Sunshine state springing forward and falling back every year. Senators Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and Representative Vern Buchanan have introduced legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent, not only in Florida, but also across the country.

I normally don't support Republican-sponsored legislation, but in this case, I'm on Rubio's side.  After all, even a stuck clock is right twice a day, pun fully intended.

Those are the states that have taken a vote of one kind or another to stop changing clocks twice a year.  According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, twenty-six other states are considering joining them, either by staying on standard time year-round or changing to Daylight Saving Time year-round.  Follow over the jump for news clips and quotes from articles about those states.

Texas is the second most populous state after California and before Florida and it is considering staying on one time all year-round, as KHOU reported last week Texas state senator says it's time to settle the Daylight Saving Time debate.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt filed a bill to let voters decide if we should keep or abolish daylight saving time.

I think that's a vote whose time has come, again, pun fully intended.

I mentioned both New York and Michigan as the other two states considering either getting off Daylight Saving Time or staying on it year-round.  New York is joining Virginia in proposing a study of the issue.  On the other hand, MLive reported Michigan would be exempt from daylight saving time under House bill.

House Bill 4303, sponsored by state Rep. Michele Hoitenga, R-Manton, would keep Michigan on the same time schedule while other states fall back or spring ahead an hour twice a year. The bill also calls for the entire state to be included in the Eastern Standard Time Zone - currently, four counties in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are located in the Central Time Zone.

I'm not optimistic about the success of this bill getting out of committee, but I think its chances are better than previous incarnations, which all failed.

Washington is in the middle of voting on the issue, as The Columbian published an Associated Press report, House OKs bill for year-round daylight saving.

As daylight saving time is set to take effect in most of the U.S. this weekend, the Washington House passed a measure Saturday that would make those later sunsets permanent in the state all year — if Congress allows it.

The measure passed the chamber on an 89-7 vote and now heads to the Senate, which has its own bill on the topic. The vote comes as more than two dozen states are considering measures to avoid the twice-yearly clock change.

Again, good luck to Washington on this issue, first on reconsiling the differences between the House and Senate bills and again on getting Congress to approve it.

Moving down the roster of states by population, Indiana considered a related issue about which time zone the state should be in.  That didn't succeed, as WISH TV reported Time zone change among dead bills before Indiana Legislature.


Moving to Central Time Zone would essentially be "falling back" year-round.  If that had passed, Indiana might have been in-synch with Chicago, but would have been an hour behind Michigan.  We in the Great Lakes State would have been amused, as we think Indiana is behind the times already.

The next state in order of population considering issue for which I have a clip is South Carolina, where WPSA in Spartanburg reported Daylight Saving Time could be thing of the past if these bills pass.


Oregon is thinking of joining California and Washington as being permanently on Daylight Saving Time, as KPTV reported A new State Bill could get rid of Daylight Saving Time in Oregon.


Oklahoma is also thinking of joining Texas in considering ending changing the clocks twice a year with KOKO reporting Lawmaker argues why Oklahoma should switch to year-round daylight saving time.


Next door, Arkansas is also considering a bill to remain on Daylight Saving Time year-round, as 4029 TV reported.

A new bill would eliminate time-switching and keep Arkansas on Daylight Saving Time around the year.

The bill replaces an earlier bill that would have kept Arkansas on Standard Time. The bill's author, Rep. Sarah Kapp of Ozark, a Republican, withdrew that original bill and submitted this one.

On the other side of Texas and Oklahoma, New Mexico agrees on ending changing the clock twice a year, but apparently can't decide how.  The Santa Fe New Mexican reported last month House, Senate pass competing bills on time change.

Senators on Thursday voted 25-17 for a bill to permanently keep New Mexico on daylight saving time.

Members of the House earlier this week took a stand that’s 180 degrees different. They voted 35-32 to exempt New Mexico from daylight saving time. The House bill would keep New Mexico on Mountain Standard Time year-round.

Indiana's decision amused me.  This one annoys me.  Get it together!

Finally, the smallest state still considering the issue (Idaho defeated a bill to end Daylight Saving Time last month) is Maine, where News Center Maine reported Two bills in Maine could end Daylight Saving Time in the state.


That's it for the states where I could find news clips and articles about this issue.  I'm sure I'll have more in November, when Daylight Saving Time is scheduled to end.