SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Last year, California voters overwhelmingly approved a measure to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. So why are we still springing forward and falling back an hour?
Specifically, Proposition 7 was passed to allow the state legislature to vote to adopt Daylight Saving Time year-round with congressional approval. There lies the answer: congressional approval.
Though California has yet to hold a vote, the change to year-round Daylight Saving Time would require Congress' backing. Florida voted for the shift in 2018, but are still waiting on Congress.
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California Assembly Bill 7, introduced in December 2018 by Assemblyman Kansen Chu, is currently being held until the second half of the 2020 legislative session, according to the Sacramento Bee. The bill, as written, would set California's standard time to year-round Daylight Saving Time — after the government authorizes the state to do so.
If that approval were to come, California would apply year-round Daylight Saving Time beginning the second Sunday of March at 2 a.m.
Chu said Friday he plans to introduce a resolution in Congress to authorize the change come in January.
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“I am committed to ending the harmful practice of switching our clocks twice a year and delivering on the voter’s decision at the ballot box in support of Proposition 7,” said Chu. “I share voters’ frustration that we will be shifting back to standard time on Sunday. Unfortunately, California and other states cannot move forward with permanent daylight saving time without authorization from the federal government.
"In January, I will introduce an Assembly Joint Resolution urging Congress to authorize states to practice permanent daylight saving time and continue my work to pass Assembly Bill 7 so California is ready for when Congress decides to take action."
California is one of 14 states this year to introduce legislation for permanent Daylight Saving Time.
There are also four bills waiting in Congress that could allow California and other states to make the time shift: H.R. 1556, S. 670, H.R. 1601, and H.R. 2389. Congress has until December 2020 to act on those bills.
For now, Daylight Saving Time will end at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3.
