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HB 1085: Down with Daylight Saving Time!

Rep. Lana Greenfield
Are those flowers or clock gears on her necklace?

Is there something about Daylight Saving Time that is particularly hard on the elder stateswomen of the South Dakota Legislature? Betty Olson tried mightily four years ago to ban Daylight Saving Time from South Dakota and lock our clocks on December time. Now Representative Lana Greenfield (R-2/Doland) brings House Bill 1085 to spare South Dakotans the oppression of Springing forward and Falling back.

(Oops: it’s not just a lady thing. My neighbor then-Rep. Dan Kaiser got all bent out of shape about Daylight Saving Time in 2015… although he didn’t make clear which clock he wanted to keep.)

The merits of ending Daylight Saving Time are debatable. I like late sunsets in summer, earlier sunrises in February, and the curious twice-yearly fiddling with our clocks that softly raises awareness of how we measure time on our round planet. HB 1085 would leave our winter sunsets at just before 5 p.m., 4 p.m. Mountain, and would move our July 4th fireworks an hour earlier, around 10 p.m. Central, 9 p.m. Mountain (ah, probably helping Donald Trump get to bed earlier when he visits Mount Rushmore this summer).

Of course, if HB 1085 is passed as written, it would require us all to change our clocks at midnight on July 1. We would switch to Daylight Saving Time one more time this March, then switch back to Standard Time four months early when the bill takes effect. We would thus get an extra hour of sleep just in time to get ready to the super-duper July 4th weekend.

HB 1085, like most edge-frittering distractions, will go to House State Affairs.

24 Comments

  1. Kal Lis 2020-01-27 12:38

    Trump wants to make DST permanent. Perhaps your headline should have read “Repbulican Legislator Bucks Trump on Timely Issue.” Ok, maybe not.

  2. Dana P 2020-01-27 13:00

    So glad that pressing and very serious matters have been solved in South Dakota — that the focus is on this sort of stuff. Playing doctor with youth transgender. Gov’t overreach about plastics across the state.

    The next thing we’ll see is something having to do with water pressure or something!

  3. Robin Friday 2020-01-27 13:26

    I say UP with Daylight Savings Time. Down with Standard time. I know it doesn’t “save” time, but I know what I hate, and I hate it getting dark at 5:00 p.m.

  4. John Kennedy Claussen, Sr., 2020-01-27 14:09

    It is my understanding, that when Daylight Saving Time first came into being, back in the late 1960s I believe, there were those who wrote letters to local South Dakota newspapers concerned that DST would confuse the cows. So, if we got rid of DST maybe the cows’ descendants will be happier, but I am afraid some of my wall clocks would never get dusted. ;-)

  5. Donald Pay 2020-01-27 15:38

    If legislators had to pay for hearing time for their bills, I suspect Rep. Greeenfield would s***can this bill. There are lots of problems to solve in South Dakota, and I suspect citizens would not place daylight savings time in the “must solve” category. It is more of a twice-a-year annoyance. One’s spouse, dog and kids constitute daily annoyances, and we don’t ask the Legislature to handle those problems. I suppose love has something to do with why we put up with our spouses, dogs and kids, and there’s nothing to love about a clock, unless it’s one of those old-time cuckoo clocks, which, as I recall, were pretty touchy about time setting.

    Legislative time is often in short supply, and the process gets constipated later in the session, but the first part of the Legislature is often glacially slow when bills like this get a couple of minutes, a few yucks and quick dispatch on the way to the 41st day.

  6. Bob Newland 2020-01-27 16:33

    A few yucks, eh? Who could possibly laugh at sweet old doddering Lana?

  7. grudznick 2020-01-27 18:28

    I think this is a swell idea. And Bob’s righter than right. You don’t want to have Mr. Brock catch you laughing at his ma, or he’ll swat you a good one.

  8. Porter Lansing 2020-01-27 19:04

    Who has the “Right To Repair” bill? Farmers need to have access to John Deere repair manuals, as well as implement repair parts. Same with Ford p/ups and bigger trucks.
    Not that changing your clocks isn’t important …. yawn.

  9. Scott 2020-01-27 19:48

    Here we go again. Another bill to waste time about an issue most do not care that much about. We maybe care for a few days after the time change and then life goes on and we face real issues of life like heath care, housing, and putting food on the table.

  10. Debbo 2020-01-27 21:58

    What a waste of Time.

    I prefer permanent DST.

  11. Daniel 2020-01-28 10:09

    I want DST year round, why would we want winter hours year round? I love the longer daylight in the evenings

  12. Mark Vogel 2020-01-28 12:19

    Daylight savings time all year, its nice having daylight when you get home from work and have time to do some yardwork. No standard time all year, yuck! Winter is depressing, daylight savings is like summer all year🌴

  13. Donna Surry 2020-01-28 13:03

    I’ve never liked having to change my clocks. I worked at the WA State Penitentiary and had regular hours of course. I dont think too many like Daylight Savings Time, esp for necessity for officers being at their posts. I hope they end it.

  14. Andrew D Porter 2020-01-28 13:13

    I love day light savings time, and dislike when it gets dark At 5.00pm , better if it’s more daylight and more people can do out door activities

  15. Cathy Travis 2020-01-28 13:25

    I am from Claremont North Carolina and it doesn’t bother me if it gets dark in the afternoon earlier it’s the mornings that’s bad when it’s dark at 6:30 and 7:30 for kids to get on the bus if they keep the time like it’s going to be when they change it back in March we will have Darkness at 8 in the morning

  16. Adam 2020-01-29 12:19

    I like the time change because it is extra stressful on the elderly. It’s the best (passive aggressive) way to increase the rate at which our needy, elderly, folks quit sucking off the government and finally stop being a burden upon society.

    If anyone has any better ideas, I’m all ears!

    Gotta stop that socialism – and it all starts with the elderly!

  17. Debbo 2020-01-29 13:41

    Adam, 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    As for which is preferred, put it to a citizens’ vote. For either to be year round, it must win by ⅔. Otherwise, stick with the switch.

    Debbo has spoken.

  18. Korey Jackson 2020-01-29 20:45

    Standardized time is important for the transportation industry and interstate commerce.
    Any state law regarding time-setting should comply with the Uniform Time Act of 1966, as amended; as well as fully consider the standard time of adjoining states.

  19. KOREY JACKSON 2020-01-30 13:03

    To clarify, “Only Congress can change the length of the DST observance period; however, since 2015, at least 39 states have proposed legislation to change their observance of DST. These efforts include proposals to exempt a state from DST observance—which is allowable under existing law—and proposals that would effectively establish permanent DST—which would require Congress to
    amend the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Most of the proposals have not passed. Three states have
    enacted permanent DST legislation: Florida, Washington, and Tennessee.”

    See the most recent Congressional Research Service Report on this matter, updated July 18, 2019. (available at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45208.pdf )

    With the current 116th U.S. Congress, there are bills in both the House (H.R.2389) and the Senate (S.670) related to Daylight Saving(s) Time, introduced in March and April 2019, respectively. Both bills were referred to the relevant committees, where they currently sit. As far as I can discern, no Congressional hearings are scheduled.

  20. Porter Lansing 2020-01-30 13:41

    Korey Jackson … I don’t see a person with your name in SD. For clarity and to know where someone sits before it can be understood where they stand, are you
    Korey Jackson
    Colonel (Retired), United States Army
    Washington D.C. Metro Area?

  21. KOREY JACKSON 2020-01-30 13:56

    Porter Lansing,
    yes, that is me.

    I am a displaced South Dakotan, born and raised in the Redfield area, with family still there, while I currently maintain my residence in northern Virginia.

  22. Korey Jackson 2020-02-05 10:37

    After yesterday’s HB1085 tie vote (33 Aye,33 Nay), it is back on the schedule for this afternoon’s House session.

    Some are worried about having that extra hour of daylight in the morning or the evening, the sun in their eyes when driving to and from work, and children in the dark when getting on the bus or coming home.

    But to make the time discussion even more interesting, consider the fact that high noon varies considerably across South Dakota;
    for any given location, the time when the sun is at its zenith varies several times throughout the year;
    and the “Equation of Time” is unaffected by legislative action.

    Consider this YouTube video of how the 24 natural time zones (based on 24 meridians), actually vary daily if based on the Equation of Time rather than the Standard Meridians (based on average annual time) throughout the year, as our earth rotates about our sun. Depending on the time of year, the meridian varies from eastern Minnesota, westward across South Dakota, and almost to Pennington County.

    https://youtu.be/Lu2FlN–h4o

    Hopefully, any recommended changes to how the good citizens of South Dakotan set their watches, DVRs, school start times, and Chuck Wagon feed times, will avoid causing train and plane collisions.

  23. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2020-02-05 12:20

    Korey, I’ve often though about that sun-in-the-eyes issue. If you drive east-west for work, it seems that problem will arise at some point during the year, either on the drive to the office or the drive home, no matter how we set our clocks.

    Whatever we do with our clocks, I suspect we will see no measurable difference in any substantive quality-of-life issue in South Dakota. Changing how we set our clocks will not raise wages, fill potholes, get rid of corruption in state government, or save lives.

  24. Debbo 2020-02-05 14:09

    I always loved it in the summer when it didn’t get dark till nearly 10:00pm. That meant we could play 🥎 in the yard longer! 😀😀😀

    Of course it was also good for small grains harvest too. Couldn’t combine early in the morning due to dew, but by about 10:00 am or so we could hit the fields.

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