North Dakota House approves legislation ending daylight saving time
The North Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would eliminate daylight saving time and keep the state on standard time throughout the year.
The House voted 55-37 to pass the bill, but it still needs approval from the Senate and governor before it becomes law. The bill does not affect time zones.
Proponents of the bill argue that daylight saving time disrupts people's sleep patterns and say abolishing it would alleviate the inconvenience of adjusting clocks twice a year.
During the House floor discussion, Rep. Disiree Morton (R-Fargo), said legislators heard testimony indicating that changing clocks twice a year has negative health effects, according to Fargo's KFGO radio. He argued the bill would help workers in the construction industry by giving them an extra hour of daylight in the morning, which would lead to safer working conditions.
But opponents said the bill would make things difficult for farmers in the state's counties that follow the Mountain Time Zone by removing an hour of sunlight during summer evenings.
Rep. Mike Schatz (R-New England) said he mixed up his committee vote due, but opposed it on final passage after speaking with constituents, according to KFGO.
'What they said was 'The sun will go down out west at 8 o'clock (p.m.).' Then it's going to come up earlier, and it's going to be harder for him, as a farmer, to get his people to come to work at 6 o'clock rather than 7 o'clock … So I'm going to vote no,' he said during Tuesday's session.
Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states in the U.S. that do not participate in daylight saving time. The Canadian province of Saskatchewan, located just north of North Dakota, also observes standard time year-round.
President Trump and Republicans in the U.S. Congress have also talked about eliminating the twice-yearly clock changes, but a bill proposed by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) would make daylight savings year-round, rather than permanent standard time.
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