‘Texas Time' is here: Lone Star State moves to observe daylight saving time year-round
Texas lawmakers have disagreed for years over whether and how to abolish the unpopular semiannual clock change in the state, but a bill that is on its way to the governor will finally bring an end to that debate — if Congress also acts.
House Bill 1393 by Conroe Republican Rep. Will Metcalf would establish 'Texas Time,' or permanent daylight saving time in the state, if federal lawmakers later allow states to do so.
'Right now, the federal government does not allow the states to make this change, so this is effectively a trigger bill,' said Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who sponsored the bill in the upper chamber.
Under the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966, states may not currently adopt permanent daylight saving time, but they can opt out of time changes by sticking with standard time year-round. That's how states like Arizona and Hawaii can keep from changing their clocks twice a year.
Texas joins 18 other states that have passed similar permanent daylight saving time measures, and there's interest at the federal level in allowing the change.
But lawmakers have remained divided up to this point on whether to keep changing the clocks or adopt permanent standard or daylight time. At least 13 bills were filed on the topic this session.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, filed a proposal to make standard time the standard. Zaffirini and Bettencourt also each called for a statewide referendum to allow Texans to choose their preferred time system. Neither of those proposals gained any traction in the Legislature.
Critics of permanent daylight saving time have health and safety concerns for their opposition to the idea, often touting permanent standard time as the better option.
'Everybody hates the time change,' said Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Dallas Democrat. 'But this has been studied medically, and there is a ton of health risks' to permanent daylight saving time.
'Daylight saving time itself disrupts the body's natural circadian rhythms and affects sleep,' he said, arguing that traffic accidents could also increase as Texans commute to work and school in the pre-dawn hours.
The Senate passed HB 1393 with a 27-4 vote Thursday. The House overwhelmingly approved the measure in April, and the proposal was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for a signature Monday.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Legislature moves to observe daylight saving time year-round
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