No Daylight Saving Time In GA? Senate Bill Proposes Killing It

ATLANTA — Georgia could go to standard time all year if a bill passed in the state Senate is approved by the House.

Senate Bill 100 would do away entirely with daylight saving time in Georgia. State senators passed the bill Wednesday 46-7.

Sen. Ben Watson, a Savannah physician who sponsored the bill, said that the twice-yearly time switch hurts Georgians’ health — and makes them cranky.

“There’s a significantly higher percentage of heart attacks during the spring-forward time,” Watson told Capitol Beat reporter Dave Williams. “We have grumpy judges due to sleep deprivation giving harsher sentences.”

If you prefer daylight saving time to standard time, Watson’s bill does have an escape hatch: It allows Georgia to switch to daylight saving time year-round if Congress eventually allows it. Under current federal law, states can go to standard time all year, but not daylight saving time.

This isn’t the first time Watson has proposed locking Georgia into standard time. Last March, just as the pandemic started, the Georgia Senate passed legislation calling for a nonbinding referendum on the issue. The proposal later died in the Georgia House.

Daylight Saving Time Year-Round Instead?

Not everybody thinks switching to standard time would be a good idea. State Sen. Kim Jackson of Stone Mountain told Capitol Beat that she prefers daylight saving time because it gives more light — and more business hours — to restaurants and entertainment venues.

State Rep. Wes Cantrell of Woodstock prefers daylight time as well — he’s introduced bills three years in a row that would lock Georgia into daylight saving time. Cantrell’s latest bill cleared the House’s state planning and community affairs committee in January, according to The Georgia Recorder.

“Not everybody, but most people prefer more daylight at the end of the day, so they get out and recreate and get out and shop,” Cantrell told the Recorder. “It’s safer for the commute home and better for our health and the economy.”

But while daylight time could be a boon for nightlife, it could be hazardous for some people’s mornings. For example, under year-round daylight time, the sun wouldn’t rise until almost 8:30 a.m. in December. That could make it unsafe for children going to school, Watson said.

Either way, the twice-yearly time switch has been shown to be harmful to some Americans’ health. According to a 2020 study, the one-hour time difference can lead to problems for those dealing with cardiovascular and immune-related diseases and mental disorders. Another study showed that the time change led to more fatal car wrecks.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 13 states including Georgia have enacted legislation in the last three years to provide for year-round daylight saving time if Congress were to allow such a change. Currently, only Hawaii and Arizona outside the Navajo Nation observe standard time year-round.

However Georgia decides to set its clocks, state Rep. Derrick Jackson of Tyrone urges caution. For one thing, a time change could disrupt scheduling systems used by the military and airports, and it could throw Atlanta out of sync with New York and other East Coast business hubs.

And then there’s that pandemic going on.

“This is something that is far larger than the Georgia General Assembly,” Jackson said to The Georgia Recorder. “I just caution all of us, with a bill such as this, when there’s other work for us to focus on.”

Read the stories in Capitol Beat and The Georgia Recorder.