“It wreaks havoc:” Georgia bill would make daylight saving time year-round
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ATLANTA (WGCL) — We’re just days away from the often-dreaded act of changing the clocks to daylight saving time, and one Georgia lawmaker wants to make the switch permanent.
State Rep. Wes Cantrell of Woodstock is the sponsor of House Bill 44. The bill aims to observe daylight saving time year-round in Georgia, essentially doing away with “spring forward” and “fall back” time changes.
The legislation passed a House vote 112-48 on Friday and was read in the Senate on Monday.
“My bill would take us to daylight saving time because that would be the easiest of the two adjustments because you’re only switching four of the months out of the year,” said Cantrell. “If we went to standard time, we would be switching eight of the months.”
Daylight saving time often means losing an hour of sleep but enjoying longer days of sunlight. Cantrell said the practice of switching clocks wreaks havoc on peoples’ lives.
“At the end of the day 90% of people hate time change,” he said.
Jennifer Campbell prefers standard time. The mother of nine operates The Good Shephard Family Farm in Henry County alongside her husband. The family works from sunup to sundown. They look forward to fall when daylight saving ends.
“In the winter, at least we go in at a decent hour, eat, have family time and that’s nice,” she said.
Dr. Nancy Collop, director at Emory Sleep Center, said the abrupt time change experienced during daylight saving time effects humans’ internal clocks. The shift has been known to lead to more car accidents, heart attacks and increased hospitalizations.
“In general, most of the sleep experts would suggest just sticking with one or the other would be better than these relatively dramatic one hour changes we go through,” said Collop.
The idea of sticking to daylight saving time or standard time is one Campbell said she can support.
“I don’t like going back and forth,” she said. “It would be nice just to have one time.”
Fifteen states have already enacted legislation to make daylight saving time year-round. However, the laws can’t go into effect until lawmakers in the U.S. Congress act. That’s because federal law currently prohibits states from observing daylight saving time year-round.
The same would be true in Georgia if House Bill 44 passes. It faces an additional hurdle in that there’s a competing Senate bill that calls for making standard time permanent until Congress makes the change.
Daylight saving time begins Sunday, March 14 at 2:00 a.m.
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