Saving Daylight

Bills to end time change in Texas might be popular, but not practical

It was just a few months ago we all “fell back” into standard time. And just a few days from now—March 12, to be precise—we will “spring forward” into daylight saving time.

Well, most of us will. Arizona and Hawaii don’t observe DST, remaining on standard time year round. Some American overseas territories, including Guam and Puerto Rico, don’t bother with it either.

The question now is will Texas join them?

Some lawmakers hope so. Three bills have been filed in this legislative session to banish DST from the Lone Star State.

There’s really no good reason why we should spring our clocks forward an hour. It doesn’t change the amount of daylight, it doesn’t change the amount of daytime, it just leaves us at the same time.” said state Rep. Jason Isaac, a Republican from Dripping Springs. He has filed a bill in the House to do away with DST.

Isaac says DST is responsible for more heart attacks and car crashes. He also would like to see all of Texas in one time zone. Right now most of Texas in in the Central Time Zone, save for a slice of West Texas that falls under Mountain Time.

State Sen. Joe Menendez, a San Antonio Democrat, filed a similar bill in the Senate, saying his goal is to protect children from drowsy drivers affected by the time change.

Another bill was filed by Republican state Rep. Dan Flynn of Canton. Flynn tried to get rid of DST in the last session, but it was voted down pretty decisively—56 to 9.

And we think that’s what the future holds for all these bills this time around.

The idea might be fairly popular with Texans. We see comments on social media from Texarkana folks bemoaning the time change every time it comes around. Some want to stay on DST all year long. Some want to abolish it. Some have no preference between DST or standard and just want the time to stay the same.

We understand. Time changes can be annoying. They are easy to overlook, making someone late or early for work, church or other obligations. You have to reset clocks—at least the ones that don’t reset themselves automatically.

But do we really want Texas to be out of sync with almost all of the country?

Yes, Texas is a unique and independent place, but come on. Having the sun set early all year would mean more energy use by homeowners, schools, government and businesses. That means more costs.

And here in the Twin Cities? We have enough to worry about without the two Texarkanas being an hour apart half the year.

Ending DST sounds good, but in our view it’s not very practical.