AUSTIN, TEXAS (Covering Katy News) – The Texas Legislature is considering a bill allowing voters to call for an end to time shifting each fall and spring.
The bill’s sponsors are Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) and Representative Mike Schofield (R-Katy/Cypress). The bill would give Texans the option to signal if they want to stay on Daylight Savings Time all year.
Currently, only Arizona and Hawaii stay on one time during the year. They are on Standard Time. Switching to Daylight Savings Time 12 months per year is more complicated. It requires a Federal court order or Congressional action for implementation.
“Let’s get to one time in Texas anyway we can, Bettencourt said.
“Texans are tired of having to change their clocks and lose an hour’s sleep for no reason,” Schofield said. “People would like to get home from work and play with their kids without it being dark half the time. So there’s no reason not to fix this.”
Currently, Congress does not allow for a permanent change to Daylight Saving Time but it is allowable to switch to Standard Time. However, US Senator Marco Rubio’s Sunshine Protection Act of 2023 would allow states to adopt Daylight Saving Time DST, but it has not yet passed the US House of Representatives.
“The issue of Daylight Saving Time has roused passions on both sides of the debate for over 100 years,” Bettencourt said. “Texans like me want to be on one time, and the Federal Congress hasn’t given us the option to vote on Daylight Saving Time.” (This bill) gives Texans the opportunity to vote on the issue and express their opinion on the debate once and for all in the Lone Star State!”
If passed, the Texas bill would require a statewide vote on November 7, 2023.
DST was enacted during World War I. It was repealed in 1919 over the veto of President Woodrow Wilson. DST was restarted during World War II but was repealed three weeks after the end of the war. A patchwork quilt remained until Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966, allowing states to stay on standard time if they wished.