WA, OR Legislators Push to Abolish Spring Forward, Fall Back
A pair of Northwest legislators are again pushing to have standard time year-round in WA and Oregon.
Legislators will push new bills in 2024.
WA State Senator Mike Padden (R-Spokane Vally) and OR Senator Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer) have both previously introduced bills that would keep the two states on standard time and abolish the spring forward-fall back.
As far back as 2019, Padden supported legislation that would do away with the time change. Senator Thatcher had a bill pass in Oregon in 2019, but the bill was also contingent on CA approving it, and they did not.
Padden said Monday in a news release:
“If there is one issue most people agree on, it’s the dislike of moving their clocks from standard time to daylight saving time in the spring and then back to standard time in the fall, It confuses and annoys many people, and it causes health problems for some. That’s why Senator Thatcher and I are working together to see if our respective legislatures can keep our clocks on standard time year-round."
Padden plans to submit another bill in 2024 during the legislative session, as will Senator Thatcher. In 2022, Padden submitted Senate Bill 5511, which would have exempted WA state from having to switch our clocks, but the Senate did not pass it.
Most people do not realize that Congress has already decided it is up to states to determine if they wish to remain on standard time only, according to Padden. He and Thatcher have reached out to, Nevada, CA, and Idaho legislators to see if they will introduce similar bills.
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Gallery Credit: Katelyn Leboff