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TIME FOR A CHANGE! What happens if daylight savings goes away?
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SPOTLIGHT
IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE!
BY NORA HESTON TARTE
When does Daylight Savings Time end in California? What should be a simple answer is actually much more complicated than it seems. California voters vetoed the twice-a-year time change a while ago, but for some reason, we’re still re-setting our clocks to spring forward and fall back each year. This conundrum, and annoyance to many, raises a lot of questions. We tackle some of them here.
WHY DOES DAYLIGHTSAVING TIME (DST) EXIST?
The nation’s first instance of time change was created in 1918 to conserve fuel and power during World War I. However, it was later abolished. Our modern daylight savings practices started again in 1966 to minimize confusion and collisions related to transportation as people moved across time zones and participated in public transit. IS DST FEDERAL LAW?
It once was, but in 2018, daylight savings became a state-by-state choice, and many states have voted to move into daylight savings hours year-round (and hopefully cure some of our seasonal affectedness disorder). California was one of the states to vote in favor of doing away with time change permanently in 2020, but in November 2022, residents still rolled back their clocks. WHAT IS THE SUNSHINE PROTECTION ACT?
In March 2022, the U.S. Senate passed a new act that would make DST the official permanent time across the nation—a practice Hawaii and Arizona already partake in. This legislation would affectively end the time change ritual as of November 2023. However, it’s not a done deal. The House of Representatives and Joe Biden still have to sign off on the new bill—and that’s what we’re all waiting for while debates of the best permanent time float around. WHY ISN’T IT CALIFORNIA’S CHOICE?
While the federal government works out their own plan, why doesn’t California just take matters into their own hands since the state has that legal power? Well, Proposition 7, passed back in 2020, only gave state officials the ability to remove the time change protocol. In order to put the plan into effect, two-thirds of state officials have to vote in favor of it.
