BILL NUMBER: AJR 28	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 28, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Obernolte
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Chu   ) 

                        JANUARY 26, 2016

   Relative to daylight saving time.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 28, as amended, Obernolte. Daylight saving time.
   This measure would memorialize the Congress and the President to
enact legislation that would allow a state to adopt daylight saving
time year round.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, The State of California is committed to attaining 50
percent of its energy generation from renewable sources and to the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below its 1990
level by 2030; and
   WHEREAS, It is the responsibility of the state to employ any and
all means of energy reduction that will reduce reliance and pressure
on energy infrastructure in the state; and
   WHEREAS, Daylight saving time was a widely used 20th century
energy reduction tool that can be expanded to meet 21st century
energy shortages; and 
   WHEREAS, A 2008 federal Department of Energy report concluded that
extended daylight saving time saves the United States approximately
0.5 percent energy each day that it is used, and; 
   WHEREAS, A report by the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission, issued in May 2001, and titled "Effects of
Daylight Saving Time on California Electricity Use," indicates that
winter daylight saving time, as that term is defined in the report,
would likely reduce electricity use by 3,400 megawatt hours per day
and that summer double daylight saving time, as that term is defined
in the report, would likely reduce electricity use by 1,500 megawatt
hours per day, producing a cost savings of $300,000,000 to
$1,025,000,000 per year for California ratepayers; and
   WHEREAS, A 2004 study from Rutgers University titled "The Effects
of Daylight and Daylight Saving Time on United States Pedestrian
Fatalities and Motor Vehicle Occupant Fatalities" found that
year-round daylight saving time would reduce pedestrian fatalities by
171 or 13 percent of all pedestrian fatalities per year in the 5 to
10 a.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. time periods and reduce motor vehicle
occupants fatalities by 195 or 3 percent per year in the same time
period; and
   WHEREAS, A 2015 study in The Review of Economics and Statistics
titled "Under the Cover of Darkness: How Ambient Light Influences
Criminal Activity" estimated a 7 percent decrease in robberies
following the shift to daylight saving time; and
   WHEREAS, Scientists have connected a number of health consequences
with the act of switching between standard time and daylight saving
time, including greater risks of heart attacks, more frequent traffic
accidents and workplace injuries, and increased suicide rates in the
days immediately after the switch; and
   WHEREAS, The citizens of California are being asked to make major
changes in their personal and professional lives to conserve energy
and would be grateful to receive the benefits of year-round daylight
saving time in return; and
   WHEREAS, Although neither standard time nor daylight saving time
produces much energy reduction for the coldest states during the more
frigid months of the year, California enjoys a temperate climate
that would afford greater reductions in energy use by utilizing a
year-round daylight saving time plan; and
   WHEREAS, The federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 allows states to
decline application of daylight saving time and provides states with
the option of practicing standard time year round, but does not allow
states to practice daylight saving time year round; and
   WHEREAS, By applying daylight saving time uniformly, the state
could avoid any inconsistencies in time application that would
otherwise impact and confuse the broadcasting, rail, airline, and
motor coach industries; and
   WHEREAS, In House of Representatives Report No. 99-185 from the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, numerous benefits are listed in
support of the extension of daylight saving time, including
significant energy conservation, improved traffic safety, reduction
in crime, economic growth, and overwhelming public support; and
   WHEREAS, The state would greatly benefit from having the option of
extending daylight saving time year round; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
respectfully memorializes the United States Congress and the
President of the United States to enact legislation that would allow
a state to adopt daylight saving time year round; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each
Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the
United States.