Tired of changing the clock twice a year? Can’t remember what “spring forward” and “fall back” actually mean? Georgia lawmakers feel your pain.
The state House of Representatives on Monday approved Senate Bill 100, which could eventually switch Georgia to year-round daylight saving time. It’s the Legislature’s latest attempt to end the twice-annual changing of the clocks that annoys many residents.
RELATED: Why Georgia won’t do away with daylight saving time any time soon
For more than a century the United States and other countries have alternated between standard time and daylight saving time, requiring residents to set their clocks forward an hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall. The practice was designed to grant an “extra” hour of daylight in the evening for work from spring through early fall. It gained additional support beginning in the 1970s as a way to conserve energy.
Proponents of year-round daylight saving time say it would eliminate confusion and decrease traffic accidents and other adverse effects associated with the sleep deprivation that comes with changing the clocks.
According to the Congressional Research Service, 11 states have adopted measures authorizing permanent daylight saving time, including Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. But they cannot make the switch unless Congress authorizes it. Congress has considered but not approved such legislation.
The Georgia House and Senate have taken different approaches to the issue. SB 100 initially would have switched Georgia to year-round standard time as an interim measure — a move that would not require congressional approval. The bill would have switched Georgia to permanent daylight saving time once Congress allowed it.
The House stripped the bill of language moving Georgia to standard time. Now it would authorize permanent daylight saving time once Congress allows it.
The revised measure passed by a vote of 111-48. It now goes back to the Senate with one day left in the legislative session.
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