Time Zone Report

Following Daylight Saving Time legislation in the US

New Mexico’s Sen. Cliff Pirtle May Try Again in 2016

While scouring around to see if there was any other 2016 DST legislation in the works (besides Florida), I found an article on the KOAT ABC 7 TV web site and several Associated Press releases (like this one from the KRQE News 13 web site) which indicate that New Mexico Senator Cliff Pirtle may try to adopt Year Round DST for the state again in the 2016 legislative session.

As Time Zone Report monitored New Mexico DST legislation last year, we found Sen. Pirtle’s proposed SB 377 which, though passed by the Senate, died in the House’s Government, Elections, and Indian Affairs committee at the end of the session.

I was in contact with Senator Pirtle a number of times last year, and advised him that Year-Round DST won’t fly, according to the US DOT.  I’ve sent him another note, referencing the articles above, and urged him “NOT to go forward with a bill to adopt Year-Round DST, or to change time zones, as these will almost certainly be disapproved by the US DOT”.


What do I recommend as an alternative?

What we really need is for Congress to mandate that the US DOT, in conjunction and with the assistance of other federal and state agencies, evaluate the entire country’s time zone alignment and the numerous issues around changing clocks forward and back in March and November each year.

In my opinion and based on several conversations with a member of the General Counsel at the US DOT, they can’t get behind any piecemeal/patchwork changes across the country. The only hope for change is to adopt an all-encompassing plan for a one-time nationwide realignment.

1 Comment

Add a Comment
  1. Sen Cliff Pirtle,
    I appreciate your efforts for trying to change the day light savings law. I agree with you that it is an inconvenience for everyone to be changing clocks but, it is especially a burden for our children who get in the bus when it is dark and have to go to bed when the sun is still up. They are suffering in their academics in school from lack of sleep which affects their grades. The law is designed for people who shop and play golf after work but, the children are not considered. The law should be changed at least to eliminate the time change during the school year. My grandson Isaac Barela, was one that was chosen from Moriarty High School to attend and introduce a bill in the Legislature this year and I suggested daylight savings time for students was a good one and I’m sure you will agree.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time Zone Report, a service of GoodClix, Inc. © 2015 Frontier Theme