I’ve never been a fan of the whole Daylight/Standard time, spring ahead, fall back horse squeeze. It’s an old system. It’s an outdated system. It’s troublesome and annoying. Arizona and Hawaii manage to get along without it. And now, a new poll indicates that plenty of Alaskans would prefer to get along without it, as well.
Large majorities of Alaskans tell pollsters they’re sick of changing their clocks twice a year. And for years, lawmakers have introduced bills that would stop us from springing forward and falling back.
This year is no exception. But the thornier question is, what time should it be?
In some sense, it’s principle versus pragmatism. Nature versus industry. Early birds versus night owls.
The one thing three quarters of Alaskans seem to agree on, said Eagle River Republican Sen. Kelly Merrick, is that it should be one or the other.
“What they’re telling us is simple,” she told the House State Affairs Committee on Saturday. “They’re tired of changing the clocks.”
Alaskans, in general, at least in my experience, aren’t shy about letting people know what they think. And it seems that they have communicated that to the state legislature. Two bills are now in play in Juneau; one locks the Great Land into Daylight Saving Time, the other, Standard Time.
Just pick one already! Eagle River Republican State Senator Kelly Merrick (AK-L) is behind one of the bills.
Merrick is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 26, passed by the state Senate last year, which would petition the federal government to move Alaska to Pacific Standard Time year-round. That would effectively lock in daylight saving time for Alaska.
Simply put, one day, we’d spring forward, and never fall back.
The other bill is offered in the State House of Representatives, supported by Anchorage Independent Ky Holland (AK-9). This one would lock us into Standard Time.
In the opposite corner is Anchorage independent Rep. Ky Holland.
“Nothing we do here will change the number of hours in a day,” he said. “We cannot legislate the sun to rise early or set later.”
Holland is behind a competing bill, House Bill 229, that would move the state to permanent standard time. We’d fall back, and then never again spring forward.
One argument for standard time, he said, is that it would require no federal action: The Uniform Time Act of 1966 allows states to opt out of daylight saving time. Hawaii and Arizona already do.
Federalism? What a great idea! Alaska, granted, is in an odd spot here; we are already four hours behind the East Coast, and for me, personally, making my living as I do as often as not commenting on things that happen in Washington, D.C., that can be an adjustment – but I’ve always been a morning person, and am usually at my desk by 6:30 AM.
There are some other advantages:
And sure, every summer, we’d be five hours behind the East Coast — but Alaska’s unique position on the globe is its own advantage, Holland said.
“From here, within a single work day, we can engage with Europe in the morning, the Americas during the day, and East Asia in the afternoon,” he said.
Back in my consulting days, the few of them I had left after moving here to Alaska, I in fact did just that. But these laws will affect everyone, not just those with international businesses.
Read More: Alaska Man Monday: Heroes, Campers, and Daylight Savings
Trump Weighs In on Whether US Should Ditch Daylight Saving Time
We’re in an odd way here in Alaska, where time zones are concerned. Hawaii has it worse, being two hours behind Alaska, but we’re also confounded by our wildly varying hours of daylight. That’s why I will add to this what I have always said: Juneau, all of you in the State Legislature, just pick a time and stick to it. At this point, I don’t care which. Just pick one, make it the law, and have done with it! No more spring-ahead, fall-back. Just Alaska time, for Alaskans.
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