Should Texas stop observing daylight-saving time?
Spring forward; fall back.
It’s a phrase we’ve all heard for years when it’s time to change the clocks by an hour as we move to daylight-saving time or off it.
State Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, is ready for it to stop. He and others say they are tired of messing with their clocks and just want one time year-round.
“It seems that every time we have to change the time, we get lots of complaints in our office,” Flynn said. “A lot of people are just upset about the hassle of turning the clock forward and backward. … It seems as though I have had more calls than ever this year.”
So he filed a bill to exempt Texas from daylight-saving time and let it stay on Central Standard Time all year.
Rep. James White, R-Hillister, said he hopes to sign on in support of Flynn’s bill in the legislative session, which starts Jan. 13. But he has also filed his own measure.
White’s bill is a little different because it would create a task force to study whether the state should continue daylight-saving time. Members would make their recommendations to top state officials by Dec. 1, 2016.
“I’m ready to stop it as well,” White said. “I get so many calls from constituents about ‘Why are we doing this?’ ‘Do we have to do it?’ and … [complaints] about the physical and mental pressures it brings about. … It seems to be really painful and physically tough for some people.”
If Texas opts out of daylight-saving time, it would be one of only three states to do so. Hawaii doesn’t participate and neither does most of Arizona (the Indian reservations there do observe it).
Why not scrap it?
Flynn said the real question is, Why not get rid of daylight-saving time?
While he has heard many complaints — particularly from mothers who worry about putting their elementary school children outside in what feels like the dead of night to wait for the bus — he said he hasn’t heard many people speaking up to keep it.
After he filed his bill, he said, a number of fellow lawmakers called asking to be co-sponsors.
“I’ve always lived with it,” he said. “Like so many things in life, they get thrown on you and you’ve got things that are more pressing to worry about.”
Flynn said the state would likely stay on Central Standard Time, although that could be changed during the legislative process.
“We will put it out for members of the Legislature to see if they think it’s a good idea,” he said. “I do.”
Saving fuel and energy
Daylight-saving time has been around for decades, with the aim of making the best use of daylight and conserving energy.
Infrequent uses of daylight-saving time occurred during World Wars I and II amid efforts to save fuel. President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to it as “War Time” during World War II.
In 1966, Congress formally set one pattern for daylight-saving time to make it uniform nationwide. President Lyndon Johnson set daylight-saving time to begin the last Sunday of April and to end the last Sunday of October.
In 2005, President George W. Bush signed a broad energy bill that extended daylight-saving time, starting it on the second Sunday in March and ending it on the first Sunday in November. Any state that didn’t want to participate could pass a law opting out of it.
U.S. territories that don’t observe daylight-saving time include American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
White said he understands that retailers might prefer to keep daylight-saving time because people may shop and spend more when the sun is out.
“In the big scheme of things today, in the 21st century … you can get behind your computer and go to school or shop whenever you want to,” White said. “There may be an argument that daylight-saving time is a relic of the past.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Should Texas stop observing daylight-saving time?."