Rubio bill makes daylight saving time permanent

The push to make daylight saving time permanent in Florida is growing.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., filed bills Wednesday to end the clock-changing in Florida and also nationwide.

Currently, most Americans must set their clocks ahead one hour in the spring and turn them back in November.

The Florida Legislature agreed last week to make Florida the first state to adopt year-round daylight saving time statewide. Gov. Rick Scott received the bill Wednesday and can sign or veto it. If he does neither, it will become state law March 29.

The change also needs Congress to alter federal law.

“Reflecting the will of the Sunshine State, I proudly introduce

these bills that would approve Florida’s will and, if made nationally, would also ensure Florida is not out of sync with the rest of the nation,” Rubio said in a statement Wednesday.

Nationwide daylight saving time began 100 years ago during World War I as an energy-saver. By moving the clocks ahead an hour, backers believed the country could divert a bit of coalfired electricity to the military instead of using it for an hour of home power.

By 1966, airlines and other clock-watching businesses tired of such quirks and pushed Congress to pass the Uniform Time Act. It codified daylight saving time, although it has been periodically modified, particularly the start and end dates. The only states not observing daylight time are Hawaii and Arizona, except for the latter’s Navajo reservations, which do.

Proponents say the change would give many Floridians an hour more of after-work sunshine to bike, garden and golf, while tourists might stay later at theme parks and beaches — and spend more money.

But critics say it would wreak havoc on TV schedules for four months a year, including pushing the late newscasts to midnight. The Times Square ball drop in New York, heralding the start of a new year, would fall at 1 a.m. in most of Florida.

From November to March, most of Florida would be an hour ahead of Atlanta, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C.

Only Pensacola and other Panhandle communities, which are on Central time, would mesh with Eastern cities if the proposed change happens.

The Florida PTA, which believes the time change would endanger children, urged Scott, a likely Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, to veto it.

“We don’t need more children standing in the dark waiting for a bus,” the Florida PTA Legislative Committee tweeted.

Florida’s other U.S. senator, Bill Nelson, has concerns about a switch for Florida if the rest of the country does not follow suit.

“Having Florida observe year-round daylight saving time without all 50 states participating would cause all kinds of havoc and confusion for businesses and the public,” he said. “Just imagine the mess of figuring out flight schedules or broadcasting prime time television programs.”