Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – State Senator Douglas Mastriano is co-sponsoring a bill with PA Senator Scott Martin urging Congress to end Daylight Saving Time in the United States of America.
Senator Mastriano wants to make Daylight Saving Time permanent by having no bi-annual time changes to standard time.
The Resolution urging Congress to make daylight saving time permanent in the United States was posted by Senator Scott Martin on February 10, 2021.
In the near future, I plan to reintroduce a resolution urging Congress to adopt legislation to end the archaic tradition of changing the clocks for daylight saving time in the United States.
Many believe daylight saving time began to help farmers, but this is a misconception. The practice began temporarily during World War I as a fuel-saving measure and was reinstated briefly during World War II. It was made a permanent fixture for most American states and territories in 1966 when President Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act.
Some studies show that the twice-a-year change actually leads to an increase of car accidents, work-related injuries, risk of stroke and heart attacks, and a loss of productivity costing the United States economy over $400 million a year.
Both Arizona and Hawaii are exempt from having to fall back or spring forward every year. In fact, Arizona has not changed its clocks in 53 years. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, over the last three years 13 separate states have enacted legislation in some form in support of this concept. At the federal level, the “Sunshine Protection Act of 2021” (H.R. 69) has already been filed. If signed into law, daylight saving time would be made permanent nationwide.
This resolution was introduced as Senate Resolution 179 in the 2019-2020 Legislative Session and was unanimously approved by the Senate State Government Committee.
I hope you will consider joining me in co-sponsoring this resolution.
Pennsylvania Senator Scott Martin
According to GoErie.com in November 2019, Pennsylvania Sen. Scott Martin has been on a quest to end the twice-annual practice of changing clocks – not just within the state, but across all of the U.S.
At that time, Martin, R-Lancaster, went before the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee recently and discussed why he was introducing Senate Resolution 179. At its core, the document calls on federal lawmakers to abolish the long-running practice of Daylight Saving Time.
“I think it’s a process that’s well past its time,” Martin said. “I think we can do better.”
In his remarks to the Senate panel, Martin described the practice of changing clocks back an hour in November and ahead in March as an “archaic tradition.”
During his testimony before the Senate panel, Martin laid out other reasons he believes Daylight Saving Time should end, including concerns of student performance from time shifts and interference with family activities in the evening.
“I think, in general, from a family perspective – who wouldn’t like to see a little more daylight?” Martin said.
The Senate State Government Committee voted unanimously in favor of forwarding Martin’s resolution on to the full legislative body.
“Thank you for bringing this forward,” said state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Greene Township, who serves on the panel. “It needs to go away.”
Harrisburg100 