BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 28| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AJR 28 Author: Obernolte (R), et al. Amended: 5/27/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/13/16 AYES: Hueso, Morrell, Cannella, Gaines, Hertzberg, Hill, Lara, Leyva, McGuire NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley, Wolk ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 69-2, 5/5/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Daylight saving time SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This resolution urges the Congress of the United States and the President of the United States to enact legislation that would allow a state to adopt daylight saving time (DST) year round. ANALYSIS: Existing federal law establishes the standard time of the United States for each of nine zones and advances the standard time of each zone by one hour during the period commencing at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March of each year and ending at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November of each year. Existing state law, under the Daylight Saving Time Act: 1)Provides that the standard time within California is that which is known, described, and designated by federal law as United States Standard Pacific Time. AJR 28 Page 2 2)Requires, from 1:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of April, until 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October, the standard time within the state to be one hour in advance of United States Standard Pacific Time. This resolution urges the Congress of the United States and the President of the United States to enact legislation that would allow a state to adopt DST year round considering that the Uniform Time Act (1966) allows states to choose to remain on standard time, but does not provide the states the option to stay on DST. Background Benjamin Franklin (1784) is credited with the basic idea of DST after observing that people were sleeping during sunlit hours in the early morning and burning candles for illumination in the evening. However, DST didn't "officially" begin in the U.S. until World War I (1918), when it was enacted primarily to extend the length of the production day and save fuel by reducing the need to use artificial lighting. Although some states and communities observed DST after the war ended, DST wasn't officially observed nationally again until 1942, when it was re-enacted for World War II, then repealed after the war in 1945. From 1945 to 1966, there was no federal law regarding DST, so states and localities were free to choose whether to observe DST and could choose when it began and ended. This understandably caused confusion, especially for the broadcasting industry, as well as for railways, airlines, and bus companies. ["Daylight Savings Time". WebExhibits. http://www.webexhibits.org/ daylightsaving/e.html] The Daylight Saving Time Act. California voters passed Proposition 12 in 1949, approving DST in the state and that the standard time within the state is that which is known, described, and designated by federal law as United States Standard Pacific Time. The Uniform Time Act of 1966. This federal act established a AJR 28 Page 3 standardized system of operating DST throughout the U.S. and its territories, exempting only states and territories that enacted laws to keep their entire state or territory on standard time. Most states opted for a coordinated DST. However, the Uniform Time Act allows states to choose to remain only on standard time as an alternative but does not provide states the option to remain on DST. In 1972, Congress revised the law to provide that, if a state was in two or more time zones, the state could exempt the part of the state that was in one time zone while providing that the part of the state in a different time zone would observe DST. The federal law was amended in 1986 to begin DST on the first Sunday in April. Energy Policy Act of 2005. This federal act extended DST in the U.S. by three weeks in the spring and one week in the fall, beginning on March 11, 2007, in the hope that the extension would save energy. Since then, California has begun DST at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and ended at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November. Should Congress enact legislation that allows a state to adopt DST year round, the change would have to be approved by California voters. Findings: Today, the Uniform Time Act provides that either Congress or the Secretary of Transportation can change a time-zone boundary. [U.S. Department of Transportation] DST is currently practiced in 76 countries and directly affects more than 1.6 billion people worldwide. [Matthew J. Kotchen and Laura E. Grant, "Does Daylight Saving Time Save Energy? Evidence form a Natural Experiment in Indiana". The National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/ papers/w14429] States and territories in the United States that do not observe DST include: most of Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Some parts of Indiana did not observe DST in the past. AJR 28 Page 4 A national telephone survey of 1,000 adults conducted March 5-6, 2014, by Rasmussen Reports, concluded that only 33 percent of American adults think DST is worth the hassle. 48 percent do not think the clock changing ritual is worth it, but 19 percent are not sure. Estimates of DST effects. The California Energy Commission (CEC) conducted a research on DST, which it published in 2007, that examined whether and how much the Policy Act of 2005 changed daily electricity. The extension of DST to March 2007 had little or no effect on energy consumption in California, according to CEC. The most likely approximation is a 0.2 percent decrease during these three weeks. In 2008, a study was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, who studied energy use in Indiana. The experiment in the State of Indiana provided the first empirical estimates of DST effects on electricity consumption in the United States since the mid-1970s focusing on residential electricity demand. The main finding, contrary to the policy's intent: DST increases residential electricity demand. An estimate of the overall increase is approximately one percent. DST causes the greatest increase in electricity consumption in the fall, when estimates range between two and four percent. Potential cost in California. According to a 2008 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Indiana households pay an additional $9 million per year in energy bills. Also, the study estimated a social cost of increased pollution emissions that range from $1.7 million to $5.5 million per year. The study concluded that the effect is likely to be even stronger in other regions of the United States. Another Step Away From Uniformity. The purpose of the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was to put states on a relatively uniform time schedule within their specific times zones. Granted, the fact that Hawaii, most of Arizona, and the eastern portion of Indiana have exercised the option under the Uniform Time Act not to move to DST during the summer means that states already aren't operating on a uniform time system. However, this proposal, if enacted by the federal government, gives states the option to AJR 28 Page 5 move even further away from the notion of a uniform time system by going to DST on a year-round basis. Intended benefits. Reports indicate that in regions with a temperate climate, DST results in energy savings and year-round DST could increase these savings as well as industrial efficiency. Additionally, extra daylight in the evening hours could provide a boost to the tourism and shopping industries. [American College of Cardiology. "Daylight saving impacts timing of heart attacks." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 March 2014. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/ 03/ 140329175108.htm] According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, studies have connected DST with a reduction in pedestrian and driver fatalities, as well as a decrease in robberies. Unintended consequences. Seniors may be among the most affected by DST since it can result in confusion for seniors who forget about time change. Also giving up an hour of sleep can have more impact on one's physical condition, regardless of age. According to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session it seems moving the clock forward or backward may alter the timing of when heart attacks occur in the week following these time changes. Final thoughts. Studies have shown ongoing debate about whether DST is needed anymore. Widely implemented during World War I, it was primarily adopted to save energy. Some experts question whether it saves energy and if it has negative health effects beyond just leaving people feeling groggy and out of sorts. [American College of Cardiology. "Daylight saving impacts timing of heart attacks." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 March 2014. www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2014/03/140329175108.htm] Comments According to the author: Switching our clocks to observe daylight saving time twice a year is an outdated practice that is hazardous to our health AJR 28 Page 6 and well-being and it is time to end it. While opting to stay on standard time year round is one solution to this problem, there are number of advantages to staying on permanent daylight saving time that make it a more attractive option. Permanent daylight saving time would result in a reduction in traffic accidents and robberies, offer net energy savings and could potentially provide a great boost to the tourism industry and local businesses. Ultimately, it should be up to the voters to decide whether or not to observe permanent daylight saving time. However, under federal law, states only have the option of opting for standard time. ACR 28 would urge Congress to enact legislation to allow states to observe daylight saving time permanently and give the voters the power to decide. Related/Prior Legislation AB 2496 (Chu, 2016) declares the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish United States Standard Pacific Time as the standard time within the state during the entire year. The bill is pending referral at the Assembly desk. AB 385 (Chu, 2015) repeals the Daylight Saving Time Act, and requires the standard time within the state to be designated by federal law as Pacific standard time. The bill is pending in the Senate Committee on Appropriations. SJRX2 1 (Karnette, Resolution Chapter 1, Statutes of 2001-02 Second Extraordinary Session) memorialized the Congress to approve legislation that allows a state to uniformly apply DST year round. AJR 56 (Longville, Chapter 127, Statutes of 2000) memorialized the President and the Congress to enact legislation to allow states the opportunity to choose year-round DST, in addition to standard time or the current system of "traditional" DST. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:NoLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified 6/14/16) AJR 28 Page 7 None received OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/14/16) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 69-2, 5/5/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NOES: Brough, Wagner NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Bonilla, Calderon, Beth Gaines, Gomez, Low, Maienschein, Patterson, Waldron Prepared by:Jay Dickenson/Genesis Tang / E., U., & C. / (916) 651-4107 8/15/16 10:17:15 **** END ****