U.S. Senate bill led Missouri House to hit snooze on daylight saving time legislation
(The Center Square) – Missouri legislators worked to make daylight saving time permanent in January but stopped when the U.S. Senate passed a bill to stop changing clocks twice each year.
“By the time we got (House Bill 822) to a committee, the U.S. Senate sent a bill to the House to make daylight savings time permanent,” Rep. Michael O’Donnell, R-Oakville, said in an interview with The Center Square. “The bill is still there and hasn’t moved. We’re not sure why it didn’t move. Obviously, it’s not going to move before the election, but we’re hoping it’s something they can pick up and quickly pass in a lame duck session.”
The nation will resume standard time at 2 a.m. on Sunday and remain on standard time until Saturday, March 11, 2023.
In March, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, making daylight saving time permanent throughout the country in 2023. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, was a sponsor of the bill and urged passage so states with laws making the change would be allowed to do so. A media release from Rubio’s office stated 19 states passed similar laws, resolutions or voter initiatives – Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
“We’re still bound by federal law, so essentially what we’re doing is sending a message to Congress that we’re interested in going full time to daylight Saving time,” O’Donnell said.
The Missouri State Medical Association testified in favor of the change.
“Multiple studies have demonstrated an increased risk for heart attacks, strokes, and fatal car crashes as negative health consequences of moving the clock forward in the Spring for daylight savings time,” Dr. David Kuhlmann wrote in submitted testimony to the Downsizing State Government Committee. “The American Academy of Sleep Medicine officially recognizes daylight savings time as a public health problem. Not only is it detrimental to health, it is unpopular. In a survey of 2,000 adults, 63% supported or strongly supported the elimination of a seasonal time change in favor of a national, fixed, year-round time with only 11% opposed.”
MOST Policy Initiative, a nonprofit organization aimed at bringing scientists and policymakers together to improve conditions for people and communities, submitted research on the subject. It found an approximate 5% increase in the risk of a heart attack in the first week after entering daylight saving time, and the risk of stroke was 8% higher during the first two days of the change. It cited research on year-round daylight saving time reducing pedestrian fatalities by 170 per year and motor vehicle fatalities by 195 per year. The research found little evidence as to whether daylight saving time decreases or increases energy use.
