00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 20                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to end daylight saving time.                                                          
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS 15 U.S.C. 260 - 267 (Uniform Time Act of 1966) establishes a system of                                  
04 uniform time within standard time zones, and 15 U.S.C. 260a establishes daylight saving time                            
05 for the nation; and                                                                                                     
06       WHEREAS daylight saving time originally began during World War I primarily to                                   
07 save fuel by reducing the need to produce electrical power for artificial lighting; and                                 
08       WHEREAS a recent study at the University of California, Santa Barbara, showed that                              
09 the introduction of daylight saving time in Indiana increased electricity costs by millions of                          
10 dollars; and                                                                                                            
11       WHEREAS Alaska is called the Land of the Midnight Sun, so traditional notions of                                
12 dusk and dawn are irrelevant in much of the state; and                                                                  
13       WHEREAS, before 1983, Alaska used five time zones that allowed for "sun time"                                 
14 and "clock time" to be synchronized; and                                                                              
15       WHEREAS, during transitions into and out of daylight saving time, people sensitive                            
16 to the time of sunrise and sunset experience a disruption of their circadian rhythm, a                                  

01 recognized sleep disorder called jet lag; and                                                                           
02       WHEREAS Alaska created "political time" in 1983, which is not based on the                                      
03 position of the sun in the sky; and                                                                                     
04       WHEREAS during each transition into and out of daylight saving time, the nation's                               
05 productivity suffers while the population adjusts to the new time; and                                                  
06       WHEREAS many teachers and administrators in Alaska have suggested that there is a                               
07 disruption in student productivity as Alaska transitions into and out of daylight saving time;                          
08 and                                                                                                                     
09       WHEREAS a majority of Alaska's students go to school in the dark and return home                                
10 in the dark; and                                                                                                        
11       WHEREAS Alaska rapidly gains and loses natural daylight, which makes the use of                                 
12 daylight saving time pointless within days of its implementation; and                                                   
13       WHEREAS every transition into and out of daylight saving time requires the                                      
14 population to waste time changing the settings on clocks and other items; and                                           
15       WHEREAS communication technology has improved the ability of businesses to                                      
16 interact with vendors around the world; and                                                                             
17       WHEREAS there are benefits to the nation of not changing time during the year,                                  
18 including the benefit to businesses of having a consistent time for communicating with their                            
19 business partners in other American time zones and international time zones;                                            
20       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
21 Congress to end daylight saving time by repealing 15 U.S.C. 260a.                                                       
22       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
23 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
24 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
25 Representatives; the Honorable John Boehner, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                       
26 Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                      
27 Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and the Honorable Lisa                                   
28 Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                    
29 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.