On Tue, 11 Feb 2025 at 16:40, Paul Eggert via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote:
Similar efforts are present in Utah…(for permanent standard time)
Interestingly, it is Utah representative Celeste Maloy who has introduced a bill into this session of Congress to allow states to opt into year-round daylight time in the same way the current statute allows states like Arizona and Hawaii to observe year-round standard time: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/300/text
I haven't been sending email to the list about these efforts, as so far none of them have seemed close enough to actually happening. Of course I could well be wrong.
While many states have had repeated proposals for years, this is first I recall hearing about proposed legislation for North Dakota (at least somewhat confirmed by a quick search of recent list history). Of course, at the national level, there is the now-routinely resubmitted "Sunshine Protection Act" which would effectuate the equivalent of year-round daylight time. The latest versions can be found here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/139/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/29/text In particular, its text allows for states which use the existing DST exemption to maintain the existing offset they used immediately prior to the proposed national change taking effect. So, for a state like North Dakota — most of which is in the far northwestern portion of a time zone where calls for year-round standard time tend to be more favored than year-round daylight time — it may be considered protective to have legislation at the ready to be able to declare year-round standard time prior to national year-round DST taking effect, thus preserving their optionality for the future. (States which don't take the existing exemption don't appear to get any choice but to keep their clocks forward.) Like most such measures, it has typically stalled in committee (the surprise in 2022 being the exception). However, the idea again attracted media attention in December 2024 for its stated support from proponents associated with the new administration, and it will inevitably attract its usual seasonal attention in popular media over the next several weeks. While there's no telling whether this time around is any different, I don't have many doubts that, if the national legislation is ever passed into law, we will see an uptick in movement on related state bills between then and when the national changes would take effect. -- Tim Parenti