Utah House approves making daylight saving time permanent

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill making daylight saving time permanent passed the Utah House of Representatives and now goes to the governor for his signature.

Utah’s legislature overwhelmingly approved the bill to stop changing the clocks on Wednesday with only one dissenting vote.  But, don’t hold your breath for this to become a reality.

First, the bill must be signed by Governor Gary Herbert.  Second, Congress has to approve the measure.  Third, at least 4-other Western states need to pass their own laws making daylight saving time permanent; all of which could take decades.

Our nearest neighbor to the south, Arizona, is permanently on standard time.  So, that limits the pool of Western states available to agree to spring forward, forever.

There is another option that does not require Congressional approval plus 4-other nearby states to jump on board.  Utah can vote to remain on standard time, as Arizona did.

So, lawmakers may need to decide if never changing our clocks was the main goal of the bill.  Or if adding an extra hour of daylight in the evenings is more important and then waiting for all the pieces to fall into place for it to happen.