Round Two: State Lawmaker Resurrects Effort To End Daylight Saving Time In California

SACRAMENTO, CA — Californians are set to soon "spring forward," but one state lawmaker is trying to stop the practice for a second time.

After unsuccessfully campaigning last year to end Daylight Saving Time, Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose, is aiming to ask voters to repeal the law and allow the legislature to adjust it with a simple majority vote.

Chu, who introduced Assembly Bill 807 on Wednesday, tried to push through a similar bill last year to end the annual practice of falling back and springing forward.

"Daylight Saving Time is an institution that has been in place largely without question for more than half a century," he said at the time. "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."

Under Daylight Saving Time, state law requires that the clock move forwards one hour from 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March to 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November. This year the state “springs forward” an hour on March 12.

Although Chu and other backers argued last year that the practice is dated and disruptive, the bill was ultimately voted down in the state Senate, with opponents raising concerns about the potential impact on California businesses and farmers. Seventeen state senators voted in favor of the bill, while 17 voted against it. Five senators did not records votes.

Image by Daniel Novta via flickr.com, used under Creative Commons