Saturday, March 13, 2021

Lawmakers introducing and passing bills to stop changing clocks as Daylight Saving Time begins

Daylight Saving Time (DST) begins tomorrow and, as I have for the past few years, I'm documenting efforts to stop the switching back and forth between DST and standard time because of the time change's deleterious health effects. Today, I'm sharing news from Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Since I live in Michigan, I begin with WXYZ's Michigan lawmaker introduces bill to end Daylight Saving Time changes.

Get ready to lose an hour this weekend as Daylight Saving Time is almost here, but if one state lawmaker has her way, it could be the last chance in Michigan.
State Representative Hoitinga cited health reasons for ending DST, which WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids covered in Studies: Daylight Saving time can lead to health issues.

We'll spring forward overnight into Sunday. Could that loss of sleep hurt your heart?
Joe LaFurgey promised another segment about state lawmakers introducing bills to either stay off DST or make it permanent. He and WOOD-TV delivered with Time to change time change? Michigan senator says yes.

Daylight saving time takes effect early Sunday morning, meaning you'll lose an hour of sleep as we spring ahead.
Hoitinga said she was looking for a State Senator to support her legislation. She might already have one in Jeff Irwin, who I know from covering him for the now-defunct Examiner.com and who I last wrote about when he proposed legalizing marijuana six years ago. I hope they find a way to work together across the partisan divide.

Follow over the jump for stories about ending the switching back and forth from outside Michigan.

Hoitinga mentioned Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in her WOOD-TV interview, so it's no surprise he is the main subject of New4JAX's Daylight Saving Time: Could Be Last Time.

Americans will turn the clock forward this weekend, costing us an hour of sleep, but a group of lawmakers wants to make this the last time we ever have to change our clocks.
I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling what my reaction from two years ago.
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.
In this case, replace twice a day with twice a year.

Florida's neighbor Georgia is also proposing ending the switch, but its lawmakers can't agree on how. I begin with CBS45 Atlanta's GA lawmaker wants to make daylight saving time permanent.


The clip mentioned a competing Georgia State Senate bill to make standard time permanent instead. That passed last month, as 13WMAZ reported in Georgia Senate passes standard time bill.

March 14th marks the start of daylight-saving time, but Georgia could soon be practicing standard time all year long.
Georgia is ready to quit as soon as it makes up its mind about how.

FOX43 News in Pennsylvania mentioned Rubio's Sunshine Protection Act without naming him in State lawmakers to urge US Congress to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

State Sen. Scott Martin plans to introduce resolution urging Congress to do away with changing of the clocks for the entire country...
I wish Scott Martin luck; he'll need it.

KTNV Channel 13 Las Vegas didn't mention Rubio or his bill in SB 153 aims to end daylight saving time in Nevada. Instead, Dr. Robin Titus cited being in sync with California as the main outside influence on making a decision.

Get ready to change your clocks this Sunday as we spring forward an hour for daylight saving time. But this could be coming to an end in the future if some state lawmakers get their way. A new bill making the rounds in Carson City would keep Nevada on the same time all year round. Jeremy Chen reports.
Again, I wish Dr. Titus, who has science on her side, luck in ending the changing of the clocks.

I close with some comedy, beginning with Jimmy Kimmel interviewing Pete Buttigieg on Becoming Transportation Secretary & Doing Away With Daylight Saving Time!

Pete talks about guest hosting our show a year ago to the day right before everything was shut down, getting the call to be the Secretary of Transportation from then President-Elect Joe Biden, rumors that he was going to be the Ambassador to China, our nation’s infrastructure, being in charge of time zones, the possibility of doing away with Daylight Saving Time, his stance on self-driving cars, and per Jimmy’s request – finally getting jetpacks into the hands of Americans.
It's not his decision to get rid of DST — as all the news clips explain, Congress will have to do that — but the Department of Transportation will certainly be involved in implementing the end of changing clocks.

I conclude the comedy section with the following recycled greeting card.


I second this emotion.

2 comments:

  1. How typical is this. At one time a solution worked for a good reason (farming) that set clocks back. Now though the need is gone an unwillingness to change remains.

    Perhaps we should trim the ends of a pot roast so it fits in the oven? People used to do that.

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    1. Hey, k-dog, good to see you commenting here again! As for trimming the ends of a pot roast, I hadn't heard of that, but I have a small enough oven that my wife and I might have to do that sometimes. We won't waste those ends and I'm sure they're weren't wasted back when that was a more common practice.

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