DOVER, Del. - Legislation that would end the shift of daylight saving time was advanced in the state Senate Wednesday.
The bill cleared its first obstacle, with a 17-4 vote in favor of the legislation. Senate Bill 73 would essentially ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to move the state of Delaware into the next time zone to the east, the Atlantic Standard Time Zone. However, the request could only move forward if neighboring states like Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey agree to make the change as well.
In a statement, Senate President Pro Tempore David McBride and bill sponsor said: “The goal here is not to put Delaware in a separate time zone on its own. What we really want to do is let the elected officials in Washington, D.C. know what we are fed up with darkness before 6 p.m. We are sick of literally losing sleep. And the time has come to do something about it.”
Similar bills like this one have been presented in states all across the country. According to the Delaware State Senate Majority Caucus, more than half of the nation's state legislatures are weighing bills that would end the clock-changing.
Daylight saving time was created by Congress, when it signed the Uniform Time Act. It allows states to individually exempt themselves legally from daylight saving, but doesn't allow states to unilaterally opt to have year round daylight saving.
The bill now heads to the House for final consideration in Delaware.