LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers are another step closer to ending the twice-a-year switching of clocks back and forth one hour, but whether that is by shifting year-round to standard time or daylight saving time hasn’t been decided.

The Legislature’s eight-member Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee voted unanimously Thursday to advance Legislative Bill 34 for year-round daylight saving time, from State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, and LB 302 for year-round standard time, from State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil.

Standard time refers to how most clocks in the U.S. are set in the winter, while daylight saving time is the period between the second Sunday in March (to “spring ahead” one hour) and the first Sunday in November (to “fall back” one hour to standard time).

Daylight saving leads to the sun setting at a later time in the summer, which organizations supporting youth sports and golf urged the committee last week to embrace.

The national group Save Standard Time urged the committee to consider the “honest, natural clock, set to the sun” as part of permanent standard time and its variety of natural benefits.

Hunt, a member of the committee, said she prefers daylight saving because the sun sets later in the summer, but the general goal is ending the clock switching.

“I don’t care which way we set the clocks,” Hunt said in a January text. “I just support stopping the madness of changing the time twice a year.”

Both bills would not go into effect until other surrounding states adopt similar laws:

For Hunt’s bill, three adjacent states to Nebraska would need to adopt a single year-round standard of time.

For Murman’s bill, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming would all need to adopt legislation for year-round standard time. State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner has said the list should include Colorado, to prevent a “southwest Nebraska time-zone island.”

Federal law currently prohibits year-round daylight saving time but does allow year-round standard time, which Hawaii and Arizona (excluding the Navajo Nation) observe.

Committee members were divided on the issue, with State Sen. Dunixi Guereca of Omaha voicing a possible preference toward permanent daylight saving time to have sun later in the summer for drinking margaritas and State Sen. Dan Lonowski of Hastings noting later sun could help youth sports and businesses at night.

State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, the committee chair, asked about year-round daylight saving time leading to some students waiting at bus stops in the dark in the winter. Lonowski also pointed to purported health benefits of permanent standard time, which have been highlighted by major medical organizations.

Doctors have noted the twice-a-year clock changing leads to negative health impacts, including increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, accidents and mental health disruptions.

The committee will consider yet another approach later this year from State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln — Legislative Resolution 33 — to pass the decision on permanent standard or daylight saving time entirely to Congress. If passed, the resolution would urge Nebraska’s five-member congressional delegation to take “affirmative action” on clock-changing reform.

The resolution states: “Such reform should advance Nebraska’s commitment to enhancing individual and family health, growing economic productivity, protecting agriculture, advancing Nebraska’s public safety goals and ensuring national uniformity.”

The committee on Thursday did not discuss a proposal to shift Nebraska’s method of awarding Electoral College votes for president to winner-take-all. And it passed over, for now, a measure that sought to prohibit local governments from considering rent control proposals.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/year-round-standard-time-daylight-sa...