Proposed Bill Would Exempt North Dakota from Daylight Saving Time
A new bill proposed in North Dakota would make the state exempt from Daylight Saving Time and put the entire state in the central time zone.
As of now, central and western portions of the state are in the mountain time zone.
Arizona and Hawaii currently do not observe Daylight Saving Time. Other territories in the US such as Puerto Rico also do not observe Daylight Saving.
If the bill passes residents in North Dakota would not ever have to set their clocks back or ahead one hour.
UPDATE 10:40AM: Senator Dave Oehlke has responded to us explaining why he has proposed the bill:
"I have many people wondering the value of daylight savings time, as it really saves no time at all. There are 24 hours in a day and the sun rises and sets each of those days.
That being said, we are - as a society and a state - much more commerce oriented than ever before. Businesses and individuals work daily across ND. One time zone for the state would be very beneficial for commerce.
Central time only makes sense as the "line" has been moved west previously - it used to be the Missouri River. Now the line has moved out by New Salem.
Lastly, changing from regular time to daylight time and back two times a year does cause people to have sleep/rest issues - sometimes needing up to a couple weeks or more to adjust.
Frankly, DST is not worth the hassle and the "time has come" to make a progressive change."
[SB2167]