California has a law that would ask voters to remove the practice of changing clocks twice a year, and lawmakers in Alaska and other states are also trying to apply similar measures. With that, some lawmakers in New England want to go even further by seceding from the populous Eastern Time Zone and throwing their lot in with Nova Scotia and Puerto Rico.
According to CBS Boston, as most Americans suffer from losing an hour of sleep this weekend, some lawmakers are trying to apply bold alternatives for New England and other states. Lawmakers from California to Kansas are considering regulations that would abolish daylight saving time.
Bills in Rhode Island and Massachusetts also want to apply such method. In fact, they go even further by proposing secession from the Eastern Time Zone. Rhode Island State Representative Blake Filippi, which is a Block Island independent, created a public health case for his bill during a Wednesday hearing.
Yahoo! News reported that a number of lawmakers in New England also want to go ahead with the changes. They want to disaffiliate from the Eastern Time Zone as they throw their lot in with Nova Scotia and Puerto Rico.
"Once we spring forward, I don't want to fall back," stated Rhode Island state Rep. Blake Filippi, who looks forward that the whole region will shift one hour eastward, into the Atlantic Time Zone. He also added, "Pretty much everyone I speak to would rather have it light in the evening than light first thing in the morning."
The critics of the daylight saving time argue that traffic accidents, heart attacks, and stroke incidents rise when people would tend to change time. Contrary to the known belief, it does not also save electricity.
Filippi's bill is motivated by the legislation in Massachusetts. It would have Rhode Island follow the neighbouring state's lead if it ever defects. He also wants New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine to see the light. Filippi figures there's little chance Connecticut would also join in since a lot of its residents commute to New York City, as claimed by ABC NEWS.
Meanwhile, states can still exempt themselves from daylight savings under the Federal Uniform Time Act. But then, moving to a different time zone would require approval from the Congress or the U.S. Department of Transportation, which must consider the effect on commerce.
