With daylight savings time ending only a couple of weeks ago, the topic of its purpose and necessity has once again come into debate in Texas.
Some truly believe that it does have a place in modern society, while others think that it’s just a waste. Regardless of where you may stand on this issue, there are some people who are willing to do whatever it takes to abolish daylight savings time where they live.
According to News 4 San Antonio, Representative Lyle Larson of San Antonio, Texas has put forth House Bill 49 in his efforts to exempt Texas from participating in daylight savings time. This would mean that any laws- federal or otherwise- that affect the state regarding daylight savings time would not matter because Texas still won’t enforce this practice.
Representative Larson’s argument for House Bill 49 is that the benefits of daylight savings time no longer exist. While they may have helped give Americans longer working hours and boost the conservation of energy, the technology of today has made those things more complicated for quite a while now. Larson has maintained that by abolishing daylight savings time, people will be able to enjoy the outdoors more, sleep better, and generally feel both happier and healthier due to their bodies not having to adjust to a time change any longer.
If this Bill were to become law, then Texas would join a very small group of places within the United States that also don’t practice daylight savings time. A TIME article from November 2017 reveals that most of Arizona and all of Hawaii don’t follow this tradition; as do the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. So for Texas to not practice daylight savings time anymore would be a highly unusual move, but not an unprecedented one by any stretch.
As of now, it’s hard to say if Larson’s bill will successfully turn into law. It’s too early to make a truly accurate guess whether it will pass or be killed by the remaining Representatives. It will be very interesting to see what the outcome of House Bill 49 will end up being.
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