Time for a 'time change' change? California lawmakers can't find time as legislation has yet to pass
Daylight saving time will still happen in California since state lawmakers have failed to legislate the twice-a-year time changes.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- You may vaguely remember Californians voting Daylight saving time into oblivion several years ago.
If you do, you may be wondering why we'll all be pushing the clock back again this weekend.
Sunday at 2 a.m., California will enjoy a bonus hour as we "fall back" to Standard Time.
That will still happen because state lawmakers have failed to legislate the twice-a-year time changes out of existence despite the passing of Prop 7 back in 2018.
That proposition gave the state legislature a thumbs-up to keep California on just one time trajectory throughout the entire year.
But in the four years since it passed, two bills to make it happen have not received the votes needed to become state law.
"Very surprisingly, it got stuck at the Senate level," said Assemblyman Steven Choi (R) of Irvine referring to a bill that passed the Assembly several years ago but ended up dying.
Choi then sponsored AB-2868, a bill that would have required California to permanently adopt Daylight saving time year-round.
It, too, has languished without the necessary support.
And even if California lawmakers do eventually pass a law that eliminates time changes, it could only go into effect if the Congress passes a law that allows it.
"The question is, when will the House of Representatives pick it up and act on it?" Choi told Eyewitness News.
Health experts said the time changes take a toll on many people, boosting the number of heart attacks, strokes, car accidents and visits to emergency rooms.
"Every time we change the time, it messes up our circadian rhythm," said Patrick Moday, a registered sleep technologist with the California Sleep Society.
He said time changes are just bad news for humans and that it takes about two weeks for people to readjust, regardless if they are "falling back" or "springing forward."
"I don't think it really matters, just as long as we stay on one time and one cycle instead of switching back and forth," Moday said.
Even though U.S. lawmakers are struggling with laws that would eliminate time changes, other countries are not.
Just last month, Mexico's Congress approved a bill to keep clocks at standard time. That bill is expected to be approved by Mexico's president.
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