PRINTER'S NO. 113
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.153
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY M. MACKENZIE, JAMES, MARCELL, ROAE, SOLOMON, SMITH
AND STAATS, JANUARY 16, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS AND
OPERATIONS, JANUARY 16, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 13, 1887 (P.L.21, No.18), entitled "An
act for the establishment of a uniform standard of time
throughout the Commonwealth," observing daylight saving time
year-around if authorized by the Congress of the United
States.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 1 of the act of April 13, 1887 (P.L.21,
No.18), entitled "An act for the establishment of a uniform
standard of time throughout the Commonwealth," is amended to
read:
Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That (a) on and after the
first day of July, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and
eighty-seven, the mean solar time of the seventy-fifth meridian
of longitude west of Greenwich, commonly called eastern standard
time, shall be the sole and uniform legal standard of time
throughout this Commonwealth; and on and after the date
aforesaid all days shall everywhere be taken to begin and end in
accordance with said standard; and every mention of, or
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19 reference to, any hour or time in any and all existing future
acts of Assembly, municipal ordinances, and corporate bylaws, in
any and all existing or future rules or regulations adopted by
any public officer or official board, in any and all rules of
the courts of the Commonwealth or any of them, whether standing
or special, and whether now in force or hereafter to be
promulgated, in any and all orders, judgments and decrees of
said courts of any of them, and judgments and sentences of
magistrates pronounced or entered on or after the date
aforesaid, in any and all contracts, deeds, wills, and notices,
and in the transaction of all matters of business, public,
legal, commercial, or otherwise,--shall be construed with
reference to, and in accordance with, the said standard hereby
adopted, unless a different standard is therein expressly
provided for: Provided, however, That this act shall not operate
to impose upon any person any forfeiture of rights, or subject
him to the consequences of any default, by reason of any
failure, occurring prior to the date aforesaid, to comply with
the requirement of, or do any act under or in pursuance of any
law, ordinance, contract, notice, deed, will, regulation, rule,
order, judgment, sentence, or decree, if such person shall,
before the said date, have properly done the act or acts which
would be requisite to save such forfeiture or prevent such
default had this law not been enacted: And provided, further,
That when the standard time shall be advanced, for any portion
of the year, by any act of Congress, now in force or hereafter
passed, the time so fixed by such act of Congress shall be the
standard time of this Commonwealth for such portion of the year:
And provided, That no county, city, borough, town, township, or
other municipal subdivision of the Commonwealth shall, by
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30 ordinance, resolution, or rule, adopt a different standard of
time for any year, or any portion of the year, than that herein
provided; and all ordinances, resolutions and rules heretofore
adopted, contrary to this proviso, are declared to be void and
of no effect.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the
standard of time in this State, between 2 o'clock antemeridian
on the last Sunday in April and 2 o'clock antemeridian on the
last Sunday in October of each year, shall be one hour in
advance of that prescribed above, commonly known as daylight
saving time. If the Congress of the United States authorizes
states to observe daylight saving time year-round, the standard
of time in this Commonwealth shall be daylight saving time year-
round.
Section 2. The amendment of section 1 of the act shall apply
to calendar years beginning on and after the effective date of
this section.
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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