As state springs forward, Congress pushes for analysis on Daylight Saving Time
Mar 9, 2022, 3:03 PM | Updated: Mar 11, 2022, 1:35 pm
Washington passed legislation to keep the state in Daylight Saving Time in 2019. (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
With Daylight Saving Time just days away, a U.S. House subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday to discuss whether the country should continue with its twice-yearly time changes.
Washington continues to await answers on Daylight Saving Time
The hearing was held in the Energy and Commerce subcommittee, led by Chairman Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ). In his opening remarks, Pallone Jr. detailed how setting our clocks backward and forward has been getting “harder to justify when you consider the health and economic impacts.”
“Studies have shown an increase in the rate of heart attacks and strokes in the two days immediately following the time change,” he noted. “Disturbingly, these stroke rates are even higher for some of our most vulnerable populations – cancer patients stroke rates increase by 25 percent, and people over the age of 65 are 20 percent more likely to have a stroke in the days following the time change.”
To that end, he and Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers — who sits on the full committee as a ranking member — will soon “request an evaluation and analysis from the Department of Transportation about the effects of Daylight Saving Time.”
Although McMorris Rodgers expressed that she believes “there are many issues that this committee should be prioritizing before Daylight Saving,” it’s also something Washingtonians have been waiting for an update on for years.
‘No good reason’ for Daylight Saving says UW Medicine
In 2019, state lawmakers passed a bill to keep Washington in Daylight Saving Time year-round, pending federal approval. That approval has been slow to arrive in the years since, although Washington Sen. Patty Murray vowed last fall to pursue “alternative paths” in Congress.
Proponents of ending time changes have pointed to a series of benefits, including reduced crime rates, fewer vehicular accidents, and better overall health. That’s seen at least 15 states passing similar Daylight Saving Time laws over the last two years.
