Jared Huffman co-sponsors daylight saving time bill

Congressman says he was never able ‘to get comfortable with the fallback part’

October 31, 2020

Many Americans have expressed a desire to not have an extra hour of 2020.

But this year’s daylight saving time ends 2 a.m. Sunday when Californians will be asked to set the clock back one hour.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) said it’s time for another option and he is co-sponsoring a bill with a Utah Republican that, if passed, would allow states to observe daylight saving time all year round.

“I’ve had a bee in my bonnet about this for years,” Huffman told the Times-Standard on Friday evening. “I tried at one point when I was a state legislator to do something and I sort of got talked out of it. But I’ve never been able to get comfortable with the fallback part of daylight saving time.”

The bill was introduced by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and has bipartisan support, Huffman said.

“I refuse to change any of my clocks. It’s too big a hassle,” Bishop told News Nation this week. “So I have learned either I’m going to be an hour ahead or on time, depending on which six months of the year it happens to be.”

Huffman said several states, including California, have worked on legislation that would allow staying on daylight saving time all year round, but congressional approval is needed to make the change.

“Most people don’t realize the history here. There was a law from way back in 1966 that standardized timekeeping in this country,” Huffman said. “And it basically gave states two choices: You either stay on standard time or you go to daylight saving time. And that’s it. And I think it’s time for a third choice, which is to keep that extra hour of daylight all year round.”

He hopes to see support broaden for the idea and said that’s what it would take to get a vote on the proposal.

“Nothing happens quickly in the Congress,” he said. “I think it will really take some public support to move a bill like this forward. So people who agree with me should write to senators and other members of Congress and try to start building the case.”


By:  Ruth Schneider
Source: Eureka Times-Standard