Legislature(2021 - 2022)GRUENBERG 120
03/24/2022 03:00 PM House STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s):|| State Commission for Human Rights|| Board of Parole|| State Personnel Board|| Public Offices Commission | |
| HB31 | |
| HB124 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 31 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 124 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HB 31-OBSERVE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ALL YEAR
4:02:45 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 31, "An Act relating to daylight saving time; and
providing for an effective date."
4:04:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DAN ORTIZ, Alaska State Legislature, prime
sponsor, summarized HB 31 by paraphrasing the sponsor statement
[included in the committee packet], which read in its entirety
as follows [original punctuation provided]:
House Bill 31 establishes Daylight Saving Time (DST)as
the official time for the State of Alaska year-round,
subject to the authorization of federal law. DST is
observed between the second Sunday of March and the
first Sunday of November.
Adoption of this legislation is the first step. To
fully implement the change to full-time DST, action by
the United States Congress is required. Congress will
need to amend federal law to allow states to observe
DST throughout the calendar year.
Nationally, the initiative to change to full-time DS
is gaining traction. As of December 2020, 13 states
have enacted DST legislation. In 2020 alone, 32 states
considered DST legislation. On the west coast
California voters authorized the change pending
legislation and in 2019, both Washington and Oregon
passed legislation similar to HB31. Our Canadian
neighbors have also taken steps to move to full-time
DST. British Columbia passed legislation to implement
full-time DST contingent on the U.S. west coast also
implementing it. Yukon began full-time DST on March 8,
2020.
Because of our close economic and geographic ties to
the U.S. and Canadian west coasts, Alaska can avoid
being 'left in the dark' by passing HB31.
4:08:07 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN inquired about the benefits of year-round
Daylight Saving Time (DST), as opposed to year-round Standard
Time ("ST").
REPRESENTATIZE ORTIZ explained that DST was important to
Alaska's major industries, like tourism, as it would maintain
the existing daylight hours in the summer and extend daylight
hours later in the day in the winter, which seemed to be
favorable to morning daylight, he said.
4:09:59 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether the federal government had
the authority to dictate Alaska's time zones.
4:10:44 PM
ABIGAIL SWEETMAN, Staff, Representative Dan Ortiz, Alaska State
Legislature, on behalf of Representative Ortiz, prime sponsor,
answered, "No, that's still under federal decision." She
offered to follow up with a legal memorandum that addressed that
concern.
REPRESENTATIZE ORTIZ opined that it would be better if all
states were united on this issue, as it would allow for easier
communication.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether Alaska had the authority to
create multiple time zones within the state without seeking
approval from the federal government.
MS. SWEETMAN said that was under federal jurisdiction.
4:12:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE directed attention to page 2, line 1, and
asked why the bill specified December 31, 2030.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ stated that he didn't have an answer. He
welcomed an amendment on that language.
4:14:34 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN pointed out that some states, such as Arizona,
chose to stay on ST year-round. He asked whether Arizona had to
gain permission from the federal government to do so.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ offered his understanding that all time-
zone-related decisions in any state required approval from the
federal government.
4:16:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KREISS-TOMKINS recalled that the United States
experimented with permanent DST in the 1970s, which was met with
a "loudly negative" response from the general public. He asked
what had changed from the 1970s and why the legislature should
expect a different response.
MS. SWEETMAN explained that before permanent DST was instated,
it had a high approval rating of 79 percent, which immediately
dropped to 42 percent, as parents were concerned about their
school-age children walking or riding bikes to school in the
dark. However, a study conducted in 2009 indicated that only 13
percent of students walked or rode their bikes to school. She
concluded that the decline in approval in the 1970s was largely
due to children going to school.
4:20:30 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KAUFMAN asked whether the origin of DST was
considered by the bill sponsor. He shared his understanding
that the original purpose was to align production hours with
factories that were still lit by skylights. He asked whether
there was a bias in either permanent DST or permanent ST that
was better for Alaska.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ believed that there was a regional bias, as
opposed to a consensus bias.
4:23:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether there would be any health-
related benefits from making this change.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ anecdotally reported that there were more
incidents of heart attacks during the switchover from ST to DST
and vice versa. The medical community was united in the idea
that sticking to one, whether it be Standard Time or DST, would
improve people's circadian rhythm.
4:24:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR wondered whether the bill sponsor had
gathered perspectives from local governments and municipalities
on the issue. Further, she asked whether other states had
considered it. She wondered whether approaching congress with a
coordinated proposal from a block of states would be beneficial.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ emphasized that the bill was contingent on
support from West Coast states in addition to approval from the
federal government.
4:28:04 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN opened public testimony.
4:28:47 PM
TOM WILLIAMS, Chief Financial Officer, Ward Air, expressed
support for HB 31 for the following reasons: it would end the
twice-a-year changing of clocks, which was associated with
higher rates of health risks; maintain the existing daylight
hours in the summer that were critical for the Alaska tourism
industry; extend daylight hours later in the day during the
winter, allowing for later flight operations and more after
school daylight; and reduce the time zone difference between
Alaska and the East Coast financial markets. He addressed the
three other West Coast states California, Oregon, and
Washington that were supporting year-round DST, as well as
potentially British Columbia. He reiterated his belief that
Alaska should join its neighbors in the effort to encourage the
U.S. Department of Transportation to approve year-round DST for
all four West Coast states, if not the entire United States.
4:32:19 PM
SUZY CROSBY, Owner, Cottonwood Creek Farm, expressed her support
for HB 31. She discussed the disadvantages of year-round
Standard Time, explaining that her support for the bill stemmed
from the fear of a proposal to eliminate DST, which she
characterized as a disastrous idea. She argued that most
Alaskans preferred the extended daylight at the end of the day,
as opposed to the beginning. She discussed the history of time
zones in Alaska.
4:36:16 PM
LISA ALEXIA, paraphrased the following written remarks [original
punctuation provided]:
As a psychiatric physician assistant who provides
health care in rural Alaska as well as Anchorage, I
write with professional, academic, and personal
knowledge of the impact that Alaska's long dark
mornings have on human health, mental health, and
safety. I respectfully request that you reconsider
your approach to eliminating the clock change and
advocate instead for permanent Standard Time.
Eliminating the clock change is importantwe can agree
on thatbut please understand that making DST
permanent would worsen the quality of life and health
outcomes for a majority of Alaskans.
Permanent Daylight Saving Time is federally
prohibited. It would delay Juneau sunrise to 9:46am
(past 8am 4.1 months), Anchorage sunrise to 11:15am
(past 8am 5.7 months). On St. Paul Island, sunrise on
winter solstice would not take place until nearly
noon! This may not seem like a big deal in Eastern
Alaska, but as someone who has worked in Western
Alaskan communities, and Anchorage, (where most of our
state population resides), I can tell you that the
delayed clock time is a big problem. Long dark
mornings for much of the year, and extended evening
light in the spring, wreak havoc on schoolchildren and
entire communities who struggle with getting enough
sleep when they must convince children to go to bed
early in April in May when it is light late, and to
wake hours before dawn for most of the school yearnot
because they are far north, but because of the
displacement of the civil clock from true sun time.
Alaska lost most of its time zones in the 80s and this
has disproportionately affected the health and safety
of Western Alaska (including Anchorage and Fairbanks).
HB 31 would worsen an already difficult situation.
Permanent DST would force earlier waking relative to
sunrise, further misalign clocks from circadian
rhythms during the winter when Alaskans most need
morning light, and chronically deprive sleep.
For Alaska in particular, our high rates of cancer,
diabetes, unintentional injury, suicide, homicide read
like a treatise on all the harms of displaced
circadian rhythms and the sleep deprivation it causes.
If Alaska were to implement permanent Standard Time,
we might finally make some headway on improving some
of these public health issues. But if HB31 were to
pass and the state went to permanent DST, these public
health problems (for which AK is already notorious in
the nation and the world) would worsen.
Permanent DST has failed before with loss of life. The
National Education Association, National School Boards
Association, National Safety Council, National PTA,
American College of Occupational & Environmental
Medicine, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Society
for Research on Biological Rhythms, The American
College of Chest Physicians, and many others urge
permanent Standard Time as best for health, safety,
and prosperity. Please consider amending this bill to
advocate for permanent Standard Time. Eliminating the
clock change can happen at a state level by
eliminating DST completely and just remaining on
standard time. Arizona and Hawaii do this. It's time
Alaska does the same. Eliminating the clock change to
convert to DST actually would take longer because you
will be waiting for federal action.
CHAIR CLAMAN sought to confirm that under current federal law,
states could opt-out of DST; however, they were not allowed to
opt-in to year-round DST.
MS. ALEXIA answered yes.
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN inquired about the process of opting out
and what that entailed.
MS. ALEXIA was unsure of the answer. She suspected that it
involved the legislative process.
4:42:01 PM
KEN LANDFIELD questioned why the bill was proposing a switch to
DST over ST. He argued that ST was more in line with people's
circadian rhythm. He pointed out that both Arizona and Hawaii
were on ST, arguing that Alaska should "hitch its wagon" to the
thth
48 and 50 states to present a unified western front. He
acknowledged that time was an artificial construct, admitting
that either year-round DST or year-round ST would be better than
switching back and forth.
4:44:23 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN closed public testimony.
4:44:50 PM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE referenced the document, titled "Research
4. Vehicle Crashed by AJPH," which suggested that DST saved
pedestrian lives and could save additional lives by extending
daylight further into the winter months. She inquired about the
correlation between time change and [car crashes].
4:45:33 PM
ANDY MILLS, Legislative Liaison, Department of Transportation &
Public Facilities (DOT&PF), offered to follow up with the
requested information.
4:46:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE EASTMAN asked whether Alaska could petition
congress for an allowance to make its own decisions regarding
time zones.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ offered to discuss that option with
Alaska's federal delegation.
4:48:36 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN announced that HB 31 was held over.