Daylight saving time happens only twice a year, but the semiannual changing of clocks leaves an impact on the rest of the calendar.
Currently, 48 of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia follow daylight saving time, excluding Arizona and Hawaii.
State Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) is proposing House Bill 119 in an effort to make Pennsylvania the third state to opt out, as permitted by the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Diamond says there are multiple health hazards and other concerns that result from changing clocks twice per year.
“The incidences of strokes go up twice a year in the weeks following the changing of clocks,” said Diamond. “There’s a measurable decline in academic performance. There’s a measurable increase in accidents, workplace accidents.
“Just in general, for everybody, it’s kind of a pain in the butt.”
Diamond says for Pennsylvania to opt out and switch to permanent standard time, the state House would have to pass the bill, have it pass through the Senate, and then Gov. Josh Shapiro would have to sign it into law.
Diamond believes there also could be a ripple effect, with other states following Pennsylvania’s lead to opt out of daylight saving time.
“I think Delaware would be the first to fall because we’ve got Wilmington that has a lot of banking centers there with a lot of Pennsylvania employees,” he said. “I think that New York, with its Wall Street connections to the banking in Delaware, would follow right along with us. I believe that we, as the Keystone State, we should take the lead on this here in Pennsylvania.”
Diamond says he has spoken with his colleagues in Harrisburg as well as in other states about switching to permanent standard time, but he also knows human nature is probably the biggest obstacle.
“People are resistant to change, no matter how good it is,” he said. “Certainly everybody who is alive now probably has been doing this – changing their clocks all their life – and they just can’t imagine what it might be like if we don’t do it.”
But Diamond cites multiple studies that show the health advantages of permanent standard time, which would allow for more sunlight during the morning hours.
“Having sun in the early part of the day gets you energized,” he said. “It gets you ready to go to work or ready to go to school. You’re more mentally prepared. Your sleep cycles are better.”
In 1974, the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Conservation Act was passed, creating a two-year trial period for year-round daylight saving time. Diamond was 10 years old and recalled why that trial only lasted 10 months.
“I traveled and I got on the bus early in the morning on a country road that had no sidewalks and no streetlights,” he said. “So, I remember how dangerous that was, and that’s why it was repealed very quickly.”
However, since states can stay on permanent time without permission from the federal government, Diamond believes passing House Bill 119 is an easier process with more direct results.
“I think people would see an immediate health impact, and just a general overall healthier Pennsylvania from doing this,” he said.