Lawmakers attempt to end daylight saving time in Arkansas fails
Arkansas State Rep. Stephen Meeks’ latest attempt to end daylight saving time in the state was voted down in committee on Wednesday.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Four days after springing forward, Arkansas State Rep. Stephen Meeks made another attempt to stop the daylight-saving time change, but his bill was voted down in committee Wednesday.
Meeks presented HB 1049, arguing that Arkansas should operate on standard time year-round, citing health and economic impacts.
“We’re putting our teenagers at a disadvantage. Studies after studies have shown that by staying on daylight saving time, it’s like being jet lagged all the time, because we never fully get used to it, because that daylight, sun in the evening is always trying to drag our bodies back to standard time. We have the mental health issues, increased anxiety, depression and of course, all that then translates to effects on the economy nationwide,” Meeks said.
The debate, happening at both national and state levels, raised concerns about potential confusion for border residents commuting to neighboring states.
“I represent the Delta part of the river, a lot of Mississippi Delta. We have some crossings there and I have a lot of people commuting from work from Memphis and Mississippi and this will cause confusion for them traveling back to Arkansas,” Mark D. McElroy said.
The Arkansas Broadcasters Association opposed the legislation, citing operational challenges for media outlets during severe weather events.
“We don’t need Arkansas giving us additional challenges in terms of our expense lines, so we better serve our listeners and viewers and bring them information that is crucial to their daily lives. Like when we have tornadoes warnings and it’s like when we do programs about the snow and other things,” Neal Gladner said.
You may have found yourself wondering how daylight-saving time began in the first place. Well, it began during WWI as a way for them to conserve energy by adding more daylight hours to the day.
It was later standardized and reintroduced across the country as the Uniform Time Act of 1966. However, Meeks said that this method is now obsolete.
Right now, Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states that no longer observe daylight saving, and more states are also considering the change.
Meeks, who has reached his term limit, hopes future lawmakers will continue the effort to end daylight saving time in Arkansas.