A bill introduced by State Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, that would put an end to the biannual ritual of setting clocks forward in the spring and backward in the fall, has moved out of subcommittee and is moving onto the State Government Committee.

HF 2059 would let Iowa petition the federal government to opt out of daylight saving time.

Currently, only Arizona and Hawaii don’t observe the change.

Other states have already approved legislation.

“Seven states,” Sexton said. “Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington have approved legislation.”

If the legislation were to pass and become law, Sexton said that to avoid problems with adjoining states, it would not take effect until Minnesota and Missouri enact similar laws.

Sexton said he’s seeing support for the change.

“Most of the people I talk to support this,” he said. “I’ve gotten more emails on this than any other subject I’ve ever worked on.”

There seems to be one thing people really do want to avoid.

“Iowans are tired of changing their clocks,” he said. “We would never change our clocks again.”

A similar bill died in committee last year. Adding the amendment to wait for neighboring states was the key this time, Sexton said.

Sexton said support for opting out of the time change is growing and has support in D.C.

“You can petition the federal government to do that,” he said. “President Trump is very supportive of getting rid of changing your clocks. We’ve got a friend in the White House for what we’re trying to do.”

Sexton hopes that eventually, the federal government will adopt one time as well. Congress has a bill, H.R. 1601 Daylight Act under consideration.

“It really should be a federal thing,” he said. “Until the federal government sees a whole bunch of states trying it they won’t do it. This will help.”

Sexton knows his bill might not make it.

“I don’t envision it being a slam dunk,” Sexton said. “I think it’s a heavy lift.”