Bill to End Daylight Saving Time in California Fails to Pass Senate

SACRAMENTO, CA — The California Senate failed this week to pass a bill that would have allowed Californians to vote about whether to keep or scrap Daylight Saving Time in the state and adopt year-round standard time.

Supporters of Assembly Bill 385 were optimistic after a Senate Appropriations Committee voted 6-1 Aug. 11 in favor of the bill, sending it to the state Senate for a vote. But this past Tuesday, the bill died on the Senate floor when it did not garner the 21 necessary votes. Seventeen state senators voted in favor of it, 17 voted against it and five senators did not records votes.

AB 385 is rare in that it does not seem to be a partisan issue. As far as the Senate was concerned, it would be more about logistics if California were to cease its annual "spring forward" and "fall back."

Some who voted it against it, such as Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said it would throw California businesses even more out of sync with those on East Coast time, the Sacramento Bee reported. Another argument, from Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula, was that it would hurt tourism. Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, said it would adversely affect farmers.

There has also been opposition on the youth sports front, the Los Angeles Times reported, because without Daylight Saving Time, there would be less playing time if that extra hour the state gains in spring and summer was lost.

For supporters though, all hope may not be lost. Sen. Ted Gaines, R-El Dorado Hills, did convince his colleagues to allow reconsideration of the bill before Aug. 31.

According to the main author of AB 385, state Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose, "Daylight Saving Time is an institution that has been in place largely without question for more than half a century. I think we owe it to the general public to be given the opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not it ought to be continued."

To complicate the matter, Assembly Joint Resolution 28 passed both the state Assembly and Senate this month, asking federal lawmakers to enact legislation that would allow a state to adopt daylight saving time year-round.

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