It’s official! Governor Kemp has signed a bill to keep Georgia on daylight saving time (DST) permanently – pending federal approval. No more springing forward or falling back. And, now you don’t have to worry about being an hour early or late after the time changes!! The bill received bipartisan support to eliminate the need to change clocks twice a year.
GREAT NEWS — The Senate on Tuesday (March 15, 2022) approved a proposal to make daylight saving time permanent, which if passed in the House and signed by President Biden, means Americans won’t have to set their clocks back an hour and lose an hour of afternoon daylight in the fall and winter.
Sponsors of the bill believe DST keeps people safer, saying that it promotes a safer lifestyle overall. Longer daylight hours make driving safer which means lower car accident rates and less risk of pedestrians being hit. Daylight hours are also safer for those spending time in the evening jogging, walking the dog or playing outside due to increased visibility and lower criminal activity.
Senate bill sponsor Ben Waton, R-Savannah, said studies show an increase in heart attacks and judges imposing harsher criminal sentences just after time changes. “You don’t need me here to tell you your sleep patterns are disrupted for two weeks in spring and fall,” Watson said.
A possible downfall? This change could mean that at certain times of year there is a two-hour difference with neighboring Alabama –if the state remained on Central Time. This will be super awkward for Georgians living near the border, where driving a few miles will mean a two hour time difference.
Georgia is not the first state to make this change. Statistics from the National Conference of State Legislatures show that 15 states have enacted legislation in the last four years to provide for year-round daylight saving time. And, Hawaii and most of Arizona stay on standard time all year.
What does this mean?
Good question! While Kemp’s signing could lead to the end of the changing the clocks, an act of Congress is required to allow the change due to federal law. As of 2021, Congress has not acted on allowing the change. A decision to change the DST requires the legislation to go to Congress for approval, while a change to standard time would not. At the moment, Congress is not making time change approvals a high priority. This means Georgians should continue to expect to set their clocks back and forth a bit longer.
What is Daylight Savings Time?
Daylight Saving Time (DTS) is a seasonal time change where clocks set forward one hour from standard time in the spring and then back again in the fall. This time change method was put in place to make better use of daylight hours, but it has been controversial ever since it began.
Several states have already voted on new time changes that have gone on to Congress for approval. Arizona and Hawaii have both switched to standard time while California, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Maine have chosen to observe DST year-round. Of course, this decision doesn’t come without several mixed opinions.
The biggest concern regarding DST is the effects on health and safety. Toggling the clocks back and forth may not seem like a big deal, but that one hour change from standard to daylight saving can make a huge difference. Disruptions in a person’s circadian rhythm can have serious impacts on their health and well-being. Studies have even shown a significant increase in health issues like heart attacks and strokes, as well as car accidents and other injuries, occur more frequently the week after switching times due to short-term sleep deprivation.
Despite the cons against keeping DST, the majority of Georgians wish to continue observing it. Many legislators are concerned about how the local economy would be affected if the state switched from DST considering more daylight hours means more people staying out later and increasing sales for businesses.
Let us know in the comments what you think about the time change?
UPDATED 3/16/2022
We prefer to stay with the current system. Changing will put Georgia out-of-sync with our Eastern state colleagues. Also, with the warm summer weather, we like the extended daylight after work to enjoy outdoor activities, including boating, that is more dangerous after dark. Without DST we would likely only use the boat on weekends and that is when the lake is more crowded.
Let’s pick either DST or standard time and stick with it and stop switching back and forth between the two. Changing back and forth is bad for your health and well being.
Let’s pick either DST or standard time and stick with it and stop switching back and forth between the two. Changing back and forth is bad for your health and well being.
I am Happy the Governor sign the bill to stay on day light saving time , it’s a great idea, it interrupt our sleep, I Pray Congress will sign this Bill ASAP.
Thanks for reading my concerns.
Stay safe!
One way or the other. BUT daylight savings most appreciated
Um my only question is what’s with the concern? Wouldn’t it be better for business if there were more daylight therefore more hours of operation?! I don’t see why this concerns anyone. I hope Congress oks this quickly and the rest of the south gets on board quickly.
It will never happen in Georgia! Were stuck with changing our clocks twice a year! Why are we stuck? Because a decision to change the DST requires the legislation to go to Congress for approval, while a change to standard time would not. At the moment, Congress is not making time change approvals a high priority. This means Georgians should continue to expect to set their clocks back and forth a bit longer.
We should be on year-round Standard Time. The time changes are hard and we should get rid of them. But we need to go to permanent standard time, not permanent daylight savings. We need to do is minimize this built-in “lateness” of the sun.
Year-round DST a horrible idea for Georgia unless you like 8:40am sunrises in December. We’ll basically have no mornings all winter. You’ll get your kids up in the dark for ten weeks straight. Your kids will wait for the school bus in the dark for ten weeks straight. You’ll drive to work in the dark for ten weeks straight. Folks in cities like Atlanta, Columbus and Albany are going to go ballistic when they figure this out.
Getting rid of the time change is not going to “increase the number of daylight hours.” People need to stop saying that. The number of daylight hours is going to be what it is. But we have to ask, when do we want those daylight hours to happen? In my opinion, the answer should be: in the least lopsided way possible.
Let me explain: the real problem Georgia has is not daylight savings – it’s where we are in the time zone. Time zones set the clock time to where the sun is relative to the center of the time zone. (Note: New York and Washington DC are in the center of the our time zone. Why do you think that is?) So people on the western edges of the zone, like Georgia, end up with sunrises and sunsets are always a half-hour (more or less) late – a half-hour behind the sun. We end up with a lopsided day bc we are far from the center of the zone. Daylight savings time makes this problem worse for Georgia because that half-hour late becomes 90 minutes late – we just don’t notice it in the summertime because the day is longer so the sun still seems to rise “on time.” In the winter, we notice it more because the days are shorter: sun rises later and sets earlier.
China is on one time zone for the whole country. Changing to have one time is a move toward communism! Governor Kemp is a communist!
I don’t like daytime savings . I like staying standing time grad sleep
kudos to PETER M….his answer is almost the same as mine!!!
i grew up in AZ and they did away with DST in i think ’67 or ’68….. businesses have seasonal hours, longer in the summer, shorter in the winter…..the same way they do now even WITH DST….. switching to DST year round, imo, is NOT a good idea, because come december and january, not only will kids (and grownups) get up for work/school in the dark, they will be on the way to work/school in the dark…..and then be starting work/school in the dark…..that’s gonna fly like a lead balloon!! and for those of you who like the great outdoors, and who learned as children, as i did, how to tell time by using your shadow…..high noon will become high one….. no matter what the clock says, there are only 24 hours in a day…..no matter what….change your routine, not your clock!!