(The Center Square) – As daylight saving time nears an end, some Ohio lawmakers aren’t ready to let it go.
The Ohio House State and Local Government Committee passed a resolution that calls on Congress to make the transition to longer periods of sunshine permanent.
The move comes after a Columbus-based group released a report this week that says the state would benefit from making daylight saving time permanent.
House Concurrent Resolution 7, which could receive a House floor vote as early as Nov. 15, urges Congress to enact the Sunshine Uniformity Act of 2023, which would permanently transition the state to daylight saving time.
“Switching to daylight saving time would increase the hours of sunlight in the evenings year-round and could help combat some mental health issues from the darker winter evenings we currently have on standard time,” said Rep. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria.
Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, states can change to standard time, but not daylight saving time.
“Research has shown an increase in automobile accidents the Monday after shifting to daylight saving time due to sleep deprivation,” said Rep. Bob Peterson, R-Sabina. “The most common cause of death in children under 15 is unintentional injury, and the most common cause of unintentional injury is car accidents. If permanent daylight saving time is one way to reduce car accidents and increase our children’s safety, it certainly deserves our consideration.”
As previously reported by The Center Square, Columbus-based Scioto Analysis developed a cost-benefit analysis of daylight saving time that says the state could see an economic benefit of between $39 million and $41 million annually by switching to permanent daylight saving time.
Most Americans fall back an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday.
The report showed the most significant impact would come on crime. The extra hour of daylight in the evenings, according to the report, leads to fewer crimes each year.
It noted other benefits of switching to permanent daylight saving time are related to removing changing of the clock twice a year, which the report says research has can cause additional car crashes, health problems and lower productivity.
