Utah sends permanent daylight saving time bill to governor’s desk

Utah lawmakers on Wednesday voted nearly unanimously to approve a bill to make daylight saving time permanent in the state.

State House members approved the bill in a 70-1 vote, according to Deseret News, with various lawmakers voicing their rationale for making such a change.

One lawmaker, state Rep. Robert Spendlove (R), proposed an alternate bill making it “lighter earlier” and keeping the state on standard time, but the idea was shot down after multiple colleagues objected.

The concept of removing daylight saving has been around for years, but the bill sponsored by state Sen. Wayne. Harper (R) is the first to past both legislative chambers in the state, the Deseret News reported.

The bill, SB59, would need further action from neighboring states before it could go into effect.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) must first sign the legislation, and Congress, as well as four Western states, would still need to take action for it to take effect.

Daylight saving starts this year on March 8. The change will add an extra hour of daylight to the evenings of the longest days of the year.