The U.S. Senate has just voted to make next year’s switch to Daylight Saving Time permanent.
A bill to end the twice-a-year changing of clocks in Iowa is moving through the state legislature, too. Senator Jeff Reichmann of Montrose is an ex-Marine who was stationed in Hawaii for five years.
“Hawaii is one of the states that does have Standard Time year round,” Reichman said. “I didn’t really like the fact that it got dark at eight o’clock at night. I like longer days. I’m kind of a summer person.”
Under Daylight Saving Time, some summer sunsets are around nine o’clock. Reichman’s senate subcommittee has advanced a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent in Iowa — if congress approves. The Iowa House already passed the bill.
Nineteen other states have passed similar laws, but state action will be unnecessary if the U.S. House passes the Senate’s “Sunshine Protection Act” and ends clock adjustments in the spring and fall.