Will we ever stop changing the clock?
Some voters want to adopt year-round daylight saving time — and sooner rather than later
In less than two weeks, daylight saving time again will come to an end, prompting Californians to again set their clocks back an hour.
That “fall back” comes despite the fact that voters last year strongly supported Proposition 7, which empowered the Legislature to vote to adopt year-round daylight saving time with congressional approval.
Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D
San Jose, has introduced a bill, Assembly Bill 7, that would make that change. The bill has been delayed until the second half of the legislative session begins in 2020.
Chu sponsored a similar bill in 2016 that failed in a Senate floor vote.
One issue that has proved to be a sticking point is how to establish year-round daylight saving time rather than year-round permanent standard time. Federal law prohibits the former but allows the latter.
Chu has said he will ask his constituents for their thoughts on which time they’d prefer to switch to, and that he will amend his bill accordingly in the new year.
“It is important to me that my constituents are heard, and putting a pause on moving the bill will give me the opportunity to do more outreach,” Chu said in a statement.
There were other complications.
A Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications analysis of AB7 found that changing California to permanent daylight saving time could cause “considerable disruption” not just to the routines of state
residents but also to California’s three bordering states and Mexico.
“The constant movement of people and goods across those borders requires coordination. The economies and societies of the border communities are interdependent,” the analysis said.
The committee analysis found that the state could take its time and assess the implications and impacts of a change to permanent daylight saving time.
“The question for the Legislature is whether immediate action is necessary. It seems there may be some benefit to waiting and assessing implications of a yearlong DST before authorizing its change,” the analysis said.
In the meantime, daylight saving time, which began this year at 2 a.m. March 10, will end at 2 a.m. Nov. 3.