Saving daylight? Bill would keep Arkansas on standard time

On Monday, Arkansas Rep. Sarah Capp, R-Ozark, submitted House Bill 1368 to the Arkansas House of Representatives. If made into law, it would exempt the state from the federally mandated daylight saving time, which moves the clock forward from the first Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arizona and Hawaii operate under standard time all year. Federal law allows for states to opt out of daylight savings time, but they cannot operate on daylight savings time all year around.

“If something this was enacted as a law in Arkansas, Texarkana, West Memphis, Ft. Smith, and other border cities would do what they have done for years,” said Jerry Sparks, director of ecomic development for Texarkana, Texas. “They would adjust and adapt to meet any challenges arising from the time difference. Politically, it’s hard to imagine the governor signing the legislation if it passed both houses of the legislature.”

Legistlation in Kansas has been introduced to do the same thing. According to the Wichita Eagle,

Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta, submitted HB 2008, also intended to exempt Kansas from daylight saving time. In the article, it is also stated that Sedwick County, the state’s second most-populous county, has adopted eliminating daylight saving time as a legistlative priority.

David Dennis, a Sedgwick County commissioner, indicated that the advantages of daylight saving time are few.

“We don’t really save any daylight whatsoever,” he said.

Daylight saving time is a measure intended to “save time” by moving the clock forward or backward an hour, depending on the time of year, to take maximum advantage of available daylight. It was first nationally adopted during World War 1 by various nations to conserve coal use.