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The time has come to end Daylight Savings Time

State Rep. Sexton has introduced a bill that would do that

For as long as anybody can remember, Iowans have been changing their clocks twice a year for Daylight Savings Time.

Each spring, they set the clock ahead one hour and each fall they set it back one hour.

A bill introduced by state Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, would eventually put an end to that practice. We think the bill is a good one that should be passed and signed into law.

The annual ritual of springing forward one hour in the spring and falling back one hour in the fall just doesn’t seem to make sense anymore. There is confusion every year around the clock change, but there never seems to be any real benefit to doing it. Therefore, we should stop doing it.

Sexton’s bill would allow Iowa to petition the federal government to opt out of Daylight Savings Time. But under his proposal the state would not actually do that until surrounding states did the same thing.

If the bill becomes law, Iowa would join what seems to be a growing number of states that are disenchanted with Daylight Savings Time. Already, Arizona and Hawaii don’t observe it. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington have passed legislation seeking to withdraw from Daylight Savings Time.

Some version of Daylight Savings Time started in 1918, making it a relic of World War I. The clock changes were standardized by the Uniform Time Act of 1966 and were changed by the Energy Policy Act of 2007.

Daylight Savings Time has had a long history, and it probably made sense when it was initiated. But the reasons for starting it just don’t seem to exist today.

As the legislature nears its first critical deadline called the funnel, we urge the lawmakers to advance Sexton’s bill all the way to the desk of Gov. Kim Reynolds.

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