Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/18/2010 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB19 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 19 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 19-ELIMINATE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
3:37:35 PM
CHAIR OLSON announced the first order of business to come before
the committee was HB 19 [CSHB 19(L&C)].
3:37:57 PM
CRYSTAL KOENEMAN, aide to Representative Fairclough, said
multiple attempts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time (DST) have
been made since 1999. Congress placed the country on DST to
conserve resources during World War I. DST was unpopular with
farmers and others and was later repealed. Congress reinstated
DST in February, 1942, to conserve energy during World War II.
From 1945 to 1966, no DST law existed; states and municipalities
could do as they chose. This caused confusion. In 1966, the
Uniform Time Act said DST would begin on the last Sunday of
April and end on the last Sunday of October. Any area that
wanted to be exempt from DST could do so by passing a local
ordinance. The law was amended in 1986 to begin DST on the first
Sunday in April.
CHAIR OLSON asked for a brief history of DST in Alaska.
3:41:36 PM
MS. KOENEMAN said Alaska went from five time zones to two in
1983. Juneau and Southeast Alaska moved from Pacific Time to
Alaska Standard with Anchorage and Southcentral. Western Alaska
was moved an hour earlier to Alaska Standard Time. Part of
Alaska remains on Aleutian and Hawaii Time.
CHAIR OLSON asked how DST affected that change 20 or 30 years
ago.
MS. KOENEMAN said the switch to Alaska Standard Time in Western
Alaska, especially with DST, negatively impacted rural areas and
schools. Kids were going out to recess in the dark and cold.
3:43:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH, sponsor of HB 16 said Hawaii and
Arizona do not observe DST. Indiana was partially off DST and
now is back on DST. She referred to research showing a $9
million cost when Indiana went back on to DST. She said people
will testify about the impact on business, energy, recreational
activities, safety, schools and health.
SENATOR MENARD asked if most private citizens would like to
repeal DST while some business entities are against repealing
DST.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH replied a variety of opinions exist
about DST. She referred to a statewide poll showing that 55
percent of Alaskans support the repeal of DST. A Rasmussen Poll
found that 47 percent of Americans don't like DST. The National
Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) is in favor of
repealing DST. A state chamber poll shows opposition to
repealing DST but 25 percent of the respondents came from
Southeast and 70 to 80 percent of Southeast does not like HB 19.
Different industries, such as broadcasting, finance and travel,
have different opinions.
3:47:09 PM
SENATOR THOMAS said he feels we should spring forward and stay
there. He noted that Hawaii has 12 hours of daylight and 12
hours of dark no matter what they do; Arizona isn't far from
that. In Fairbanks and further north, it's dark no matter what
you do. He thinks the issue is more about relating to the Lower
48 states from a business aspect. He asked how many hours
difference Alaska would be from the West Coast if it remains on
Alaska Standard Time.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH replied that Alaska would be five
hours off East Coast time when they spring forward in March of
2011. She told Senator Thomas that polls coming out of his area
heavily favor the repeal of DST.
SENATOR THOMAS said that sunrise is as late as 10:15 a.m. and
sunset is as early as 2:45 p.m. in Fairbanks. He is not sure
people understand the impact on daylight and the relationship to
the rest of the country, though he noted he has not seen the
poll Representative Fairclough referred to.
3:49:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH said she could get the extra polls to
Senator Thomas. She referred members to "DST Around the World"
which shows DST going away internationally. She pointed out that
in Nome, it takes 10 days to make up the hour of light lost from
jumping forward and 12 days in Anchorage.
3:51:14 PM
CHAIR OLSON asked for clarification that Alaska would be going
back to Alaska Standard Time year round, meaning either 4 or 5
hours difference from the East Coast depending on the time of
year.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH replied that is correct. She said she
used to be a buyer for JC Penney and had a narrow window for
communicating with the East Coast whether it was DST or not.
However, she noted that those who participate in market
activities and currently get to work at 5 a.m. would have to get
to work at 4 a.m.
3:52:15 PM
SENATOR MENARD asked about the American Indian reservation in
Arizona that still observes DST and how that works when the bulk
of Arizona has repealed DST.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH said she believes Arizona did not
repeal DST but, rather, never adopted it. She added that some
parts of Alaska, such as Metlakatla, stay on standard time and
refuse to go onto DST.
3:53:37 PM
DAN CUDDY, president, First National Bank of Alaska, said he
supports HB 19 and repealing DST. During DST, a person goes to
work in the winter in the dark and comes home in the dark. On
Standard Time, a person comes home in the daylight. We lose
daylight during DST. Staying on Standard Time would also allow
for 6 months on the same time as the West coast states.
CHAIR OLSON asked how staying on Standard Time would affect
dealing with large financial institutions on the East Coast.
MR. CUDDY said it would not be a problem.
3:55:22 PM
CAROL TYLER, representing herself, Big Lake, spoke in support of
HB 19. She said DST causes health concerns and interrupts
people's biorhythms. Her children had a terrible time adjusting
to the time change and their education suffered during that
time. School starts too early and then with the time changes,
high school kids sleep the first half of the day and are not
getting the education they need. Childhood obesity is also
exacerbated with lack of sleep. She noted that with electronic
communication in a global economy, businesses do not need to be
on the same time zone.
3:57:28 PM
SCOTT SMITH, Legislative Liaison, Alaska Broadcasters
Association, said that although he doesn't like DST, eliminating
DST in Alaska would have unintended consequences. A great deal
of programming would be tape delayed rather than live, including
some live sports events. A lot of radio programs come via
satellite and would need to be recorded and replayed, which
entails high labor costs. Conducting business across time zones
would be more complex as Alaska would be bouncing back and forth
between four and five hours difference from the East Coast.
3:59:51 PM
CHAIR OLSON asked if Mr. Smith is speaking for the Alaska
Broadcasters Association.
MR. SMITH said he owns radio stations on Kodiak. He said
eliminating DST would not have a large impact on him personally
but he has been asked to speak on behalf of a Television
Broadcaster who would be more largely impacted.
CHAIR OLSON asked for clarification on Mr. Smith's opinion of HB
19.
MR. SMITH said he is opposed to a change to DST unless the rest
of the country changes as well.
4:00:43 PM
GREG DUROCHER, representing himself, Anchorage, said he works
for the United State Geological Survey (USGS) and has 7:30 a.m.
meetings which would have to be moved to 6:30 a.m. for half of
the year. He said most government agencies have headquarters on
the East Coast. He refuted Mr. Cuddy's earlier statement that
Alaskans would have more daylight in the winter if HB 19 passes.
Alaska is already on Standard Time during the winter and would
not have more daylight after working hours unless we were to
spring forward and stay there. He pointed out that students
bounce back and forth between time zones whenever they travel
out of state.
4:03:25 PM
SUZY CROSBY, representing herself, Mat-Su Valley, also refuted
Mr. Cuddy's comment that repealing DST would result in more
daylight hours after work. Repealing DST would not change
anything in the winter and would result in an hour less of
daylight after work in the summer. She would rather leave DST as
is or spring forward and stay forward. From late May through
mid-July the average sunrise is 4:30 a.m. She questioned why we
would want an extra hour of daylight at 3:30 a.m. The majority
of Alaskans love the hours of daylight in the summer evenings.
She works for the Alaska State Fair, attended by 300,000 people
annually. Eliminating DST would have a negative impact on the
Alaska State Fair's evening concerts. Without DST, a sense of
being in the land of the midnight sun would halt.
She said the challenge of being four hours behind the East Coast
for business purposes is already difficult enough. She objected
to the wording of the surveys circulated by Representative
Fairclough and read them as they should have been written.
4:08:44 PM
MS. CROSBY said she would propose to spring forward and stay
forward to have the extra hour of light at the end of the day.
She further suggested another time zone could be put in place
for Western Alaska to avoid the darker mornings.
4:09:28 PM
SENATOR MENARD said she does not think the survey questions Ms.
Crosby referred to were trick questions. She asked if the Alaska
State Fair has taken a position on DST.
MS. CROSBY replied that the Alaska State Fair has taken a strong
position of wanting to keep DST as is.
4:10:11 PM
CHAIR OLSON called a brief at ease.
4:10:27 PM
CHAIR OLSON brought the meeting back to order and turned the
gavel over to Senator Menard.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH said the questions Ms. Crosby referred
to were in a letter to the general public of Alaska but were not
on the poll. The poll was one question: "Would you like to
repeal DST time or not?"
4:12:42 PM
KATHLEEN FLEMING, representing herself, Talkeetna testified in
support of HB 19. She runs an astronomy program for her local
radio station and teaches basic star gazing. The majority of the
state's population is along the meridian that is already one
hour off of the standard meridian during Standard Time and two
hours off during DST. Juneau is the only place where clock time
and sun time are in sync and that is only during Standard Time.
She is in favor of living according to sun time though she
admits some inconvenience would exist when dealing with states
that switch to DST. She noted that scientists, astronomers and
pilots refer to Universal Coordinated Time or Greenwich Time and
must go back and forth with DST.
Longer days mean an hour of darkness is lost in the evening;
stars are no longer available to kids. With perpetual daylight
in the summer, she sees no reason to gain an extra hour of
daylight in the evening. In autumn, falling back an hour is
shocking as 6 minutes of daylight is lost per day anyway. We do
not need to be like the Lower 48 but think for ourselves and
live in accordance with natural cycles.
4:17:09 PM
MIKE HARMER, representing himself, Homer, testified in support
of HB 19 saying he wonders why we need more daylight in summer.
In response to Ms. Crosby, he said he has never seen pitch black
in September until after midnight. He would like to get away
from changing times as doing so affects circadian rhythm.
4:19:12 PM
LYNN WILLIS, representing himself, Eagle River, testified in
support of HB 19. He said he submitted written testimony with 21
reasons to do away with DST in Alaska. These include disruption
of sleep patterns and circadian rhythm and recognizing the
improvements in technology allowing communication 24 hours a
day. No Alaskan utility credits DST with energy savings nor do
Alaskans see decreased energy costs. He quickly discussed the
decisions and implications of the 1983 time zone change in
Alaska. He pointed out that Pacific Rim nations do no observe
DST and multinational corporations routinely use Greenwich Time,
which does not change, to conduct international business.
Statewide polls show that the majority of Alaskans want to end
DST, in both urban and rural Alaska. He reminded committee
members that four previous house bills and one previous senate
bill have tried to repeal DST but have died. He hopes the issue
of DST can be resolved this time.
4:22:55 PM
LORA REINBOLD, representing herself, Eagle River, testified in
support of HB 19. She has substitute taught for eight years and
said changing back and forth from DST affects the classroom.
Sleeping is hard enough for people in Alaska with the natural,
drastic change in daylight. DST is a complication and a nuisance
and not necessary anymore.
[SENATOR MENARD turned the gavel back over to Chair Olson.]
4:25:31 PM
THOMAS CARPENDER, representing himself, North Pole, testified in
support of HB 19. He saw a news program that reported DST
increases serious heart attacks, decreases return on investments
in the week of the time change, costs the U.S. over $56 billion
and causes deaths and injuries. He said his wife was a school
bus driver and DST puts the kids back in the dark just when they
have gained some morning daylight. DST makes drivers and kids
sleep deprived and is not worth a child being hurt. He noted
that most businesses are conducted over the internet which is
not affected by time and TV schedule changes are not
significant.
4:28:28 PM
DON CORNELIUS, representing himself, Petersburg, testified in
opposition to HB 19 saying that avoiding temporary
inconvenience, twice a year, is main reason for HB 19. If Alaska
does not stay in sync with the rest of the U.S., all Alaskans
will be inconvenienced. Southeast Alaska already lost an hour of
their evenings in 1983. HB 19 would eliminate another hour of
daylight when most Alaskans spend time outdoors and would drive
people away from healthy outdoor activities toward more
sedentary indoor activities. He noted that Southern Southeast
Alaska already has much less evening light than the rest of
Alaska; however, he understands why Anchorage and Western Alaska
don't like DST. He felt the problem began when most of Alaska
was combined into one time zone. Most Alaskans would like to go
back to the old time zone divisions and stay in sync with the
rest of the country. If one time zone must be adhered to, he
suggested sticking to DST, not Standard Time.
4:32:09 PM
JOSEF QUITSLUND, representing himself, Petersburg, testified in
opposition to HB 19. He does most of his work, which is noisy
work, outside. He gets a lot done during DST. He begin work
earlier and wake up the neighbors. He supports staying in DST
time through the year and suggested the state needed more than
one time zone.
4:33:42 PM
BOB WEBBER, representing himself, Mat-Su, supports HB 19 and the
repeal of DST. He said the legislators "screwed all the clocks
up" in the 80's and suggested this was to placate the capitol
move. The Legislature should "set the clocks and leave them
alone." If people in Juneau do not have enough time in the
evening, they should start work earlier. He should not have to
wake his child up in the dark and put her to bed in the light to
be on Juneau's time zone. If the legislature would do away with
DST, people would not have to struggle to adjust to an
insensible time change.
4:36:55 PM
BILL LEGERE, General Manager, KTOO, and past president of the
American Broadcasters Association, testified in opposition to HB
19. Broadcasters are concerned about being out of sync with the
rest of the country for eight months of the year which would be
confusing to viewers and listeners. KTOO has about 100 time-
based software programs that put programming on the air, manage
ventilation and run the emergency alert system. All software
automatically changes back and forth from DST to Standard Time
and would have to be modified if HB 19 passes. Adjusting to the
change would be like Y2K for many industries. Many industries
such as airlines, cruise ships, ferries, banks, hospitals and
customs are not set up to accommodate Alaska's inconsistency
with the rest of the country.
4:40:39 PM
CHAIR OLSON asked if Mr. Leger is familiar with the public
broadcasting in Western Alaska and whether they have the same
computer generated, automatic time constraints.
MR. LEGERE replied yes, most commercial and non-commercial
stations depend on automation equipment to run their stations
when they cannot afford to have people there. One person, often
out of two or three staff members, will have to figure out how
to reprogram the software.
CHAIR OLSON asked where the nearest engineer to Western Alaska
stations is.
MR. LEGERE replied the nearest engineer is in Anchorage or
Bethel. Technical fixes have to wait for someone to fly in or
fix them remotely.
CHAIR OLSON said he believes an engineer is in Kotzebue and
Nome.
MR. LEGERE concurred.
4:42:33 PM
CHAIR OLSON closed public testimony.
4:42:44 PM
CHAIR OLSON asked what Canada and other large western nations do
about DST.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH answered that other countries are
having a similar national debate. Many Canadian provinces
observe DST but several do not.
4:43:39 PM
SENATOR MENARD asked if state agencies have weighed in on the
potential effects of repealing DST.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH said she heard from the Palin
administration last year but has not heard from the Parnell
administration. The Permanent Fund Division submitted a letter
saying they would have to bring someone in an hour earlier or
not participate in the market for that hour. The IT and
Maintenance sections both thought that going off of DST would
save money because older equipment needs to be manually changed
to DST. She noted that computers have a one-click function to
say you are on or off of DST.
4:46:04 PM
MS. KOENEMAN added that cell phones automatically update through
satellites. Having to switch communication devices back and
forth is almost a non-issue.
4:46:50 PM
CHAIR OLSON asked Representative Fairclough to comment on some
of the testimony.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH said Alaskans are passionate about the
detriments and benefits they see resulting from the elimination
of DST. She explained that the letter Ms. Crosby referred to was
meant to stimulate a conversation and was not a poll. She said
Alaskan's lives are disrupted twice a year to benefit from 10 to
13 days of added light. She respects that Southeast Alaska is
highly opposed to HB 19 and feel they have given up their hour
already. She also recognizes that Alaska would not be
synchronized with the rest of the U.S. if HB 19 passes. However,
she noted that DST is being eliminated internationally due to
health issues.
She reported that Indiana's study showed a cost increase from
switching to DST. Energy savings associated with DST is a
fallacy depending on where you are in the state; it is not the
case for most of Alaska. Lights are turned on in the morning
when getting up in the dark. Alaska utilities say the largest
contributing factor to energy consumption is temperature, not
DST.
She said recreation concerns for Southeast are valid. The
Department of Transportation (DOT) said accident risk increases
in autumn when the hour of daylight is lost dramatically.
Anecdotally, the restaurant industry reports people not showing
up for work. Schools anecdotally report that DST is disruptive
in the classroom. The Superintendent of the Anchorage School
District is in favor of repealing DST. Doctors say a student's
hypothalamus is not fully developed and time changes are harder
on kids.
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH pointed to a study showing disruption
in the classroom as an indicator of test scores and she noted
DST happens when kids are being tested. She pointed to a German
study showing that people who suffer from Seasonal Affective
Disorder (SAD) or a sleep affliction have a difficult time
transitioning in and out of DST. A Swedish study shows a 4-5
percent increase in the heart attack rate associated with sleep
deprivation or disruption. She noted that time changes cause
difficulties for people who take medication on a schedule.
Finally, she stressed that she did ask particular people to
testify; people emerged in support of or opposition to HB 19.
CHAIR OLSON asked her to touch on the matter of kids waiting for
the morning school bus in the dark.
4:57:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH answered that First Student and other
transport for children and parents say "it's insanity" to move
back into morning darkness. Doing so increases the likelihood
that a child will be harmed. First Alert tells its employees to
be cautious around DST because kids were used to seeing daylight
at bus stops and then are without daylight again.
4:58:21 PM
MS. KOENEMAN pointed out that much of the testimony suggested
staying on DST. Staying on DST is technically a time zone change
which is a federal DOT issue. Also, Western Alaska would be even
further off of sun time.
4:59:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FAIRCLOUGH closed by saying the NFIB in Alaska
supports HB 19 thought they would have to be vigilant about not
being synchronized with the Lower 48. DST hurts Alaskan children
and could possibly have an impact on other Alaska health
problems.
5:01:15 PM
CHAIR OLSON said that he will hold HB 19.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|