Senators pump the brakes on bill to eliminate daylight saving time in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would have allowed Utah to ditch daylight saving time appears to have reached the end of the road.

The Senate Business and Labor Committee voted Wednesday 7-1 to table HB120, which effectively halts its progress during the remaining weeks of the legislative session.

Related: How could daylight saving impact you?

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Elison, R-Toquerville, had previously passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 52-23.

“We like to brag in the House that we’re closest to the people, and I think that was reflected in the vote,” Elison told KSL following Wednesday’s committee hearing. “To not let it go onto the floor of the Senate, I think, is unfortunate.”

Utah daylight savings time bill activity

The bill is the most tracked proposal of the session, according to Elison, who said the majority of Utahns want to put an end to the semiannual changing of the clocks — a practice that is only slightly more rooted in tradition than efforts by Utah lawmakers to abolish it.

Utah already has a law on the books that would move the state to permanent daylight saving time, if and when the federal government OKs it or if several neighboring states adopt the same policy, but Elison said adopting permanent standard time is the only way to immediately eliminate the clock changes each spring and fall.

“There’s never going to be an argument finalized and determined as far as which is better,” Elison told the committee. “That’s not the whole point of this bill at all. The point of this bill is simply saying if people want the clocks to stop (changing), this is the only thing that we have the authority to do as a legislative body.”

Continue reading on ksltv.com.