25-02-2025
The end of daylight saving time in Oklahoma? Bill aims to adopt standard time year-round
A state representative is working to opt out of daylight saving time in Oklahoma and adopt standard time year-round.
Authored by Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, House Bill 1223 would undo Senate Bill 1200, which was passed in April 2024, that requires Oklahoma to adopt daylight saving time as the year-round standard time if a federal law is passed that authorizes the state to do so.
Dubbed the "Wyman West Actual Lock the Clock Act," HB 1223 passed the General Government House Committee 5-1 on Monday. If it's signed into law, the bill would require the state to adopt standard time year-round upon returning to standard time on Nov. 2.
"This bill will not change when the sun rises or falls. It will change what time the clock says when this happens," West said during the committee meeting. "This would be early sunrise and a later sunset."
The bill's progress through the state Legislature comes after President Donald Trump vocalized his opposition to daylight saving time.
"The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn't!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in December 2024. "Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation."
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have supported the notion on social media. Musk has shared posts supporting the idea of "abolishing the annoying time changes,' and Ramaswamy has replied to support the notion.
With the two leading the newly formed Department of Governmental Efficiency and all three agreeing there is a sense of governmental cost importance, this could be an issue they all tackle.
More: Could Daylight Saving Time end in Oklahoma? What Trump proposition, trigger law could do
The U.S. Department of Transportation oversees the nation's time zones and observance of daylight saving time, according to the agency's website. That agency cannot repeal or change daylight saving time, nor does it play a role in a state's decision to observe it.
Under the Uniform Time Act, states can exempt themselves from observing daylight saving time. However, states don't have the authority to choose to be on permanent daylight saving time.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Daylight saving time could end permanently in Oklahoma under new bill
