Control of time not so cut and dried

The Florida Legislature recently passed a bill to keep daylight saving time all year. Sen. Marco Rubio has submitted two bills to Congress on the subject: one bill to keep daylight saving time all year for the entire country, the second to allow Florida to remain on DST even if the rest of the county does not.

The first idea has some major issues. Florida has just passed a bill to increase school safety due to the recent shooting in Parkland. If Florida is so concerned about school safety, why would the state pass a bill that will have children leaving for school in the dark? With yearround DST, in December and January the sun would not rise until 8:15 a.m.

In addition, we would probably see an increase in motor vehicle accidents as many commuters will be driving to work in the dark.

Worse is Rubio’s second bill. If Florida keeps DST without the rest of the country, we will be out of sync. Football fans will not be able to watch the night games that will end at 1 a.m. The nightly news on the major networks will start at midnight. The New Year’s Eve ball in

New York would not drop until 1 a.m. Florida time. The Oscars and any other award shows will end after 1 a.m. Airline schedules for our tourists will be in chaos.

I truly hope that our representatives in Congress are smarter than our representatives in Tallahassee and not allow this idea anywhere, let alone in Florida without the rest of the country.

ALAN PAPIER,