Yesterday Utah Representative Lee Perry filed HB 178 entitled “Daylight Saving Time Exemption”.\u00a0 This bill, if passed, would exempt Utah from Daylight Saving Time immediately, since it’s effective date of Saturday March 7, 2015 is before the start of DST for most other US states on Sunday March 8.<\/p>\n
Arizona, Utah’s neighbor to the south, has been without DST since 1968 — except for the Navajo Nation, which does observe DST.<\/p>\n
Utah legislators are also considering Senate Concurrent Resolution 1, which asks the US Department of Transportation to change the designation of the state’s time zone from Mountain Standard Time to Central Standard Time, effectively moving clocks in the state “permanently forward one hour”.<\/p>\n
A number of states are considering Year-Round DST, but the portion of US Code called “Standard Time” only permits states two options: opt out of DST, or observe it from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.\u00a0 The state of Washington has legislation asking Congress to amend 15 USC Subchapter IX to allow states to legally adopt Year-Round DST as an option.<\/p>\n
Florida and Mississippi legislatures have bills under consideration to move to Year-Round DST, but due to the federal law restriction, these bills are likely to be killed in committee.\u00a0 Alabama Senator Rusty Glover had intended to submit similar legislation in his state, but has decided not to.\u00a0 Several other states have considered Year-Round DST bills since 2010.<\/p>\n