Missouri voters could be asked if they want to stop switching their clocks back and forth, potentially giving citizens of the Show-Me State more sunlight at the end of the day.
In legislation debated in a House committee Monday, state Rep. Mike Kelley, R-Lamar, said his plan to make daylight saving time the standard would address long-held concerns that the practice of gaining and losing hours due to time changes is not only unhealthy but bad for business.
What’s more, Kelley said if voters approve the switch, it would only take effect if two adjoining states also agree to cement daylight saving time as the correct time in order to blunt any significant cross-border time issues.
“I think it’s a good meet-in-the-middle approach,” Kelley told members of the House Government Efficiency Committee.
The initiative is the latest time-related proposal floated in state legislatures across the country in recent years. In Illinois, state Rep. Bill Mitchell introduced a plan to make daylight saving time the standard last year after a constituent in his Decatur-area district complained about the losing an extra hour of sunlight in the fall and winter.
A Washington Post survey of the issue last year found that officials in a dozen states were considering legislation to opt out of changing the clocks. Although the national act outlining the use of daylight savings time allows states to ignore the change, only Arizona and Hawaii don’t participate.
Kelley, who cited studies linking the time change with more car accidents, reduced productivity and sleepier school kids, said the last time people would switch their clocks would be in March 2017.
Lawmakers on the panel said they were concerned about the effect on businesses of not being synchronized with other states when it comes to opening and closing times.
State Rep. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis said if, for example, Missouri opts out of daylight saving time because Arkansas and Nebraska also join in the effort, it could wreak havoc with businesses in the highly populated areas along the state’s borders with Illinois and Kansas.
“The vast majority of Missourians live along the border,” McCreery said.
The committee could take a formal vote on the issue in the coming days.
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