Better Ask Barry: Didn’t Prop 7 end Daylight Saving Time?

Californians changed their clocks from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time on Sunday. It was the second such switch since voters overwhelmingly approved Prop 7 last November.

Nearly 60 percent of the state’s voters said they were tired of changing their clocks back and forth. Most Americans agree.

A new Associated Press, N-O-R-C Center poll finds seven in ten people do not like the twice a year switch. However, they don’t agree which plan is best.

Four-in-ten prefer Standard Time. Three-in-ten want Daylight Saving Time year-round.

Prop 7 authorized the state legislature to look at all options.

South Bay Assembly member Kansen Chu is author of a bill that would make daylight saving time the standard, year-round in California.

AB-7 passed the Assembly this past spring and will be heard by a Senate committee in January.

But that’s the easy part.

Currently, two states — Hawaii and Arizona — do not observe Daylight Saving Time. They opted out in accordance with the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

There was no provision for states to adopt DST fulltime, so California and at least a dozen other states must wait for Washington to clear the way.

Assemblyman Chu says it rests with the fate of two Senate bills.

“I don’t think it’s a controversial bill. They just don’t have time to act on this bill. It’s a low priority,” said Chu.

Changing the time will take time, but Californians made it pretty clear they’d like to “set it and forget it.”

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking toward March 8, 2020, when we’ll spring forward once again.