Alabama lawmakers adopt permanent daylight saving time
https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/alab...WldtjiJNA_i8s8
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Alabama lawmakers adopt permanent daylight saving time in 93-1 voteUpdated May 06, 2021; Posted May 06, 2021
By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com
The Alabama Legislature has endorsed legislation that makes daylight saving time permanent if Congress enacts federal law ending biannual time shifts.
The Alabama House voted 93-1 on Thursday following a lengthy debate on SB388, sending the bill to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey for final consideration. But making daylight saving time year-round in Alabama will only be possible through the approval of Congress.
State Rep. Ritchie Whorton, R-Owens Cross Roads, the sponsor of the legislation in the House, said it was a popular bill among his constituents who relayed to him that it’s often “hard on folks” to adjust to the different time changes.
“You go from March to November, one sort of time and switching to another time, it’s hard for folks to get used to the change,” said Whorton. “A lot of people not used to getting up to the morning, running late and having an accident.”
For over a century, the U.S. has operated on a biannual time shift. Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March when clocks are set forward by one hour and they are then turned back to standard time on the first Sunday of November.
Supporters said the permanent time shift would be good for the economy because longer days would mean the potential for people to be out shopping for longer hours, or businesses staying open later.
“Anytime you give people a little longer time of having daylight, businesses stay open,” said Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham. “People spend more money because they have more daylight. I think it’s something good for the state.”
Said Whorton, “I think economically it will help us big time, especially for construction.”
The only “No” vote came from Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, who said the permanent time fix could be detrimental to shift workers.
“It just destroys your sleep patterns with daylight savings time,” said Moore, who criticized supporters for not screening “the working men and women of Alabama” about the bill.
“Sleep patterns are screwed up,” she said. “My eyes are open by the time the sun comes up. (For those working) 12 to 14 hours, they are tired all time. Daylight savings tie does not do them well and, at the end of the day, it affects their health.”
Some health officials have advocated for permanent standard time, not daylight savings.
Dr. Karen Gamble, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told AL.com last week that there is a lot of documented evidence that the week or days after the annual “spring forward” to daylight saving time is “wrong with negative events” that includes more traffic crashes, reduced work performance and an increase in health risks like heart attacks and shortened sleep.
She cited a research paper from Society for Research in Biological Rhythm that argues in support of a closer alignment between the social clock – set by people that includes work and school schedules – and the body clock which is set by the rising and setting sun.
In the last four years, 15 states have enacted legislation or passed a resolution to provide for year-round daylight savings time if Congress allowed such a change, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Last year, seven states enacted similar legislation including Georgia and Louisiana.
Whorton, though, said nothing will change unless Congress acts. A resolution in the U.S. House called the “Sunshine Protection Act of 2021” would make daylight saving time permanent and would end a 103-year run of it occurring for only eight months.
Daylight saving time was first enacted in 1918, as a way to conserve coal. It was again officially recognized nationally in 1966. Daylight savings time was expanded to its current form in 2007. From 1987-2006, it began on the first Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October.
