California Assembly Bill AJR28 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AJR 28AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 3, 2016 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Obernolte (Coauthor: Assembly Member Chu) JANUARY 26, 2016 Relative to daylight saving time. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AJR 28, as amended, Obernolte. Daylight saving time. This measure would memorialize the Congress and the President to enact legislation that would allow a state to adopt daylight saving time year round. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, The State of California is committed to attaining 50 percent of its energy generation from renewable sources and to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below its 1990 level by 2030; and  WHEREAS, It is the responsibility of the state to employ any and all means of energy reduction that will reduce reliance and pressure on energy infrastructure in the state; and  WHEREAS, Daylight saving time was a widely used 20th century energy reduction tool that can be expanded to meet 21st century energy shortages; and  WHEREAS, A report by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, issued in May 2001, and titled "Effects of Daylight Saving Time on California Electricity Use," indicates that winter daylight saving time, as that term is defined in the report, would likely reduce electricity use by 3,400 megawatt hours per day and that summer double daylight saving time, as that term is defined in the report, would likely reduce electricity use by 1,500 megawatt hours per day, producing a cost savings of $300,000,000 to $1,025,000,000 per year for California ratepayers; and  WHEREAS, A 2004 study from Rutgers University titled "The Effects of Daylight and Daylight Saving Time on United States Pedestrian Fatalities and Motor Vehicle Occupant Fatalities" found that year-round daylight saving time would reduce pedestrian fatalities by 171 or 13 percent of all pedestrian fatalities per year in the 5 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. time periods and reduce motor vehicle occupants fatalities by 195 or 3 percent per year in the same time period; and WHEREAS, A 2015 study in The Review of Economics and Statistics titled "Under the Cover of Darkness: How Ambient Light Influences Criminal Activity" estimated a 7 percent decrease in robberies following the shift to daylight saving time; and WHEREAS, Scientists have connected a number of health consequences with the act of switching between standard time and daylight saving time, including greater risks of heart  attacks,   attacks (New England Journal of Medicine, 2008),  more frequent traffic accidents  (New England Journal of Medicine, 1996)  and workplace  injuries,   injuries (Journal of Applied Psychology, 2009),  and increased suicide rates in the days immediately after the  switch;   switch (Sleep and Biological Rhythms, 2008);  and  WHEREAS, The citizens of California are being asked to make major changes in their personal and professional lives to conserve energy and would be grateful to receive the benefits of year-round daylight saving time in return; and  WHEREAS, Although neither standard time nor daylight saving time produces much energy reduction for the coldest states during the more frigid months of the year, California enjoys a temperate climate that would afford greater reductions in energy use by utilizing a year-round daylight saving time plan; and WHEREAS, The federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 allows states to decline application of daylight saving time and provides states with the option of practicing standard time year round, but does not allow states to practice daylight saving time year round; and WHEREAS, By applying daylight saving time uniformly, the state could avoid any inconsistencies in time application that would otherwise impact and confuse the broadcasting, rail, airline, and motor coach industries; and WHEREAS, In House of Representatives Report No. 99-185 from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, numerous benefits are listed in support of the extension of daylight saving time, including significant energy conservation, improved traffic safety, reduction in crime, economic growth, and overwhelming public support; and WHEREAS, The state would greatly benefit from having the option of extending daylight saving time year round; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully memorializes the United States Congress and the President of the United States to enact legislation that would allow a state to adopt daylight saving time year round; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.