Why Are We Still Adjusting Our Clocks?

In November 2018, California voters passed Proposition 7 by 60% to set the state on Daylight Saving Time (DST) year-round.

So why are we still adjusting our clocks twice a year?

Well, Prop 7 was actually an authorization by the voters permitting the State Legislature to introduce a bill changing the times and dates of DST.

During the 2019-2020 session, AB 7 was introduced to authorize permanent year-round DST. It needed a two-thirds majority to pass in both houses and while the Assembly approved it, it stalled in the Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee.

During the 2021-2022 session, AB 2868 was introduced on this same issue, and this time did not even pass through the State Assembly.

This issue may be reintroduced again, but even if it passes, there will be ONE MORE hurdle. It will need federal approval. Federal law allows states to adopt year-round standard time (as in Arizona), but it does not permit states to be on year-round DST yet.

So until these changes happen, we are stuck in the government bureaucracy time warp...Oh, and do not forget to set your clocks back tonight.