Legislature(2005 - 2006)CAPITOL 106
04/23/2005 09:30 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB23 | |
| HB48 | |
| HB176 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 48 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 176 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 23 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 176-ELIMINATE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME 10:31:27 AM VICE CHAIR GATTO announced that the final order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 176 "An Act exempting the state and its political subdivisions from daylight saving time." REPRESENTATIVE WOODIE SALMON, Alaska State Legislature, as sponsor of HB 176, said the subject of this bill - to eliminate daylight saving time - has appeared in the past. Daylight saving time originated to save energy, but Alaska has abundant daylight in the summer months. For example, in Barrow the sun doesn't set from April to October. 10:34:33 AM REPRESENTATIVE SALMON said some people argue that businesses need to be connected to the businesses on the East Coast, but through the use of computers and cell phones, Alaskans can be reached anywhere at any time of day. MOIRA SMITH, Staff to Representative Woody Salmon, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Salmon, sponsor of HB 176, reported that researchers who have studied human physiology have argued that it is a disruption to the human circadian rhythms to change time zones when traveling or through observing the changing of the clock twice a year in April and October. The research shows that the time change is particularly disruptive to teenagers; teachers who give state exams the week of the change to daylight saving time in April have observed that the switch is quite disruptive to their students. Ms. Smith said a poll was conducted by [Dittman Research] that shows 58 percent of Alaskans support "getting rid of daylight saving time." She revealed that 29 of the 32 public opinion messages (POMs) have shown support of [HB 176]. 10:37:55 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER said this is an issue that she was asked to address when she was first elected. She said she decided she didn't want Alaska to be "even further off the time clocks of the rest of the United States." MS. SMITH, in response to a question from Representative Gardner, confirmed that currently Alaska time is one hour different from Pacific time and four hours different from Eastern time. If HB 176 were adopted, then for six months of the year, when standard time begins in October, Alaska time would be the same time as Pacific time and only three hours different from Eastern time. In response to a follow-up question from Representative Gardner, she said, "The ... moment when the sun is at the high point in the sky would fall closer to noon were we to observe standard time all year long in Anchorage ...." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said if Alaska were to stay on daylight saving time and not change its clocks in October, the only time it would make any difference would be in winter. For example, instead of the sun rising at 10:30 a.m. and setting at 1:30 p.m., it would rise at 11:30 a.m. and set at 2:30 p.m. REPRESENTATIVE SALMON, in response to a question from Vice Chair Gatto, said the bill would actually freeze the clocks on standard time - not daylight saving time. VICE CHAIR GATTO said that changes the formula. Seattle, for example, would never be the same time as Alaska. Instead, from October to April, Alaska would be one hour earlier than Seattle, but then from April to October, Alaska would be two hours earlier than Seattle. REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER suggested that Alaska could change to Pacific time in addition to eliminating daylight saving time. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG, in response to a question from Representative Elkins, offered his understanding that Alaska, at one time in the past, had four time zones: Pacific, Yukon, Alaska, and Bering. VICE CHAIR GATTO said Alaska communicates on a global economy. If [HB 176] were to be adopted, it would increase the time difference between Alaska and most of the rest of the United States, which would mean less time to connect with vendors, the stock market, insurance companies, airlines, and factories. He said that is a difficult situation. 10:46:38 AM REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS said he doesn't care whether the bill passes or not. He recalled that when Alaska changed to its current system, then Governor Bill Sheffield asked for the support of every city councilperson and every borough assembly person in the state, telling them that if, at the end of the year, they didn't like it, they could request to change it back. He said Ketchikan made that request, but nothing changed. VICE CHAIR GATTO said he thinks that change was to get Juneau on the same clock as Anchorage, so the capital could do business with Anchorage during the same hours. REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS remarked that the state does a lot of business with Seattle. VICE CHAIR GATTO said he personally thinks Alaska should be on the same time as Seattle. REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER said she would like to offer an amendment to move Alaska to Pacific Standard Time and "discontinue participating in [Daylight saving time]." 10:48:53 AM REPRESENTATIVE SALMON responded that time zones are set so that the sun is at its highest point at noon during standard time. If Alaska were to change to Pacific standard time, then "your high noon is going to be too early." REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG directed attention to the previously mentioned Dittman Research poll [included in the committee packet]. He noted there was only one question in the poll, which he read as follows: Do you support Alaskans switching to [daylight saving time] for the summer and then switching back in the fall, or should we leave our clocks the same throughout the year? REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG said the question did not ask whether clocks should remain the same on standard versus daylight saving time. He said the question was seriously flawed in that respect. He said he is a co-sponsor of the bill, and he said it is his impression that federal law won't allow Alaska to remain on daylight saving time all year. He said adopting Representative Gardner's idea for an amendment would get around that problem, because Alaska would be on Pacific standard time. He offered his understanding that some parts of the state don't want to be "as far advanced as maybe the urban areas would be to be on the same time zone as the West Coast." He said he thinks his constituents would like not to have to shift their clocks back and forth and would prefer to be on the same time zone as the West Coast. He said it would be possible to keep Alaska on two time zones, and just shift the line past which part of the state is on [Hawaii/Aleutian] time. 10:53:30 AM REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS noted that any community in the state that wants to can change. He noted that Metlakatla never changed their clock and the state never took them to challenge. MS. SMITH agreed that a community can do that, but Metlakatla has done so without federal approval; therefore, there is no recognition of it. The federal government could change Alaska's time by statute or by a regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation. She said Alaska would have to petition the federal government to change its time zones. REPRESENTATIVE ELKINS said Metlakatla has not suffered. 10:55:30 AM VICE CHAIR GATTO indicated that the issue of time change has a lot to do with business hours and with kids having to go to school in the dark. He said he has received many letters on this issue. REPRESENTATIVE LYNN said the previously mentioned poll is fascinating, but he wonders if the people who responded to it were just as confused as the committee over the details of the issue. He clarified that there has been a lot of interesting discussion relating to both sides of the argument and he is not sure the poll is valid "until you go to a discussion like this." 10:57:50 AM RICH POOR, testifying on behalf of himself, stated that he doesn't know why Alaska would we want to pull itself another hour away from the East Coast where the investments of the Permanent Fund Corporation are affected by the stock market. People come to Alaska because they like the outdoors, he said, and after a day of work, they want to go out and play. If the state stays on standard time, that time disappears. 11:00:15 AM MR. POOR listed the times that the sun sets on June 22 in various communities across the state. Losing an hour would mean, for example, that Fairbanks would no longer be the land of the midnight sun. Because of the light Alaska gets in the evening during the summer, parks and game fields are utilized to the fullest. 11:01:56 AM VICE CHAIR GATTO admitted that one of the advantages of daylight saving time is that although there is more darkness in the morning, there are extra hours of light in the evening "when you prefer it." 11:02:50 AM MR. POOR noted that television schedules are a "direct feed from the networks off the West Coast," so if the bill passes, prime time in Alaska seven months out of the year would be a 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. He mentioned airline schedules. 11:04:11 AM MR. POOR, in response to a question from Representative Gardner, offered a more concrete example of the effects of not changing to daylight saving time along with being on Pacific standard time, as her suggested amendment would have the state do. He offered his understanding that the Alaska State Legislature has the ability to decide whether or not to change to daylight saving time, but would have to send a resolution to the U. S. Department of Transportation asking for a consideration to change the time to Pacific standard time. The federal government would send staff to hold hearings to get public testimony in Alaska and then take a recommendation back to the secretary of the department who would make the final decision. The factors considered when deciding would be in regard to commerce, communications, "and things like that," he said. 11:06:27 AM MR. POOR added that he likes Representative Gardner's suggested amendment. 11:07:22 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG offered his understanding that there is currently an energy bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, which proposes that the United States, as a whole, would be on daylight saving time for a total of eight months of the year. He recommended, "If we do that, then it might be preferable, if we can do it, to call it, 'Alaska [daylight saving time]' for the full year, rather than the Pacific time, because the Pacific standard time would only be four months if this new federal law passes." 11:08:19 AM LYNN WILLIS, testifying on behalf of himself in support of HB 176, said he is glad that the needed debate on the issue is finally taking place. He presented his testimony as follows: [Daylight saving time] is arguably not required in Alaska, but maybe this hearing will allow us to see the overriding public good that requires us to continue to use [daylight saving time]. In the absence of any such clear public benefit, I would ask that you respect the privacy of Alaska's residents and stop this semi-annual intrusion into our lives. The arguments to end [daylight saving time] include the following 10 points: First, we live in the land of the midnight sun. Without touching the clock, this week, Southcentral Alaska gained about 40 minutes of natural daylight. Yes, I understand it gets dark in the winter in Anchorage - or in Alaska, in general. You can't have permanent, same length of the day, unless you move to the Equator - that's just something we put up with by living up here. Second, as stated, data gathered in April 2004, by Dittman Research, shows that ... 58 percent - a majority - favor no longer changing clocks; but if you quit changing clocks, you quit using [daylight saving time]. The same public opinion survey showed only 37 percent continued to do what we're doing now. Third, based on my inquiries to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, no data is available that would show a savings of energy by use of [daylight saving time]. Fourth, this is the third repeal attempt in six years. The last effort in 2002 - HB 409 - had the necessary 26 votes to be scheduled for a floor vote, but was held in the Rules Committee. Fifth, advances in communication technology, such as cell phones, voice mail, [facsimile ("fax")] machines, and use of the Internet allow messages to be left and business transactions to be conducted at any time. Sixth, some Alaska businesses can benefit from a time difference, by providing services outside of normal business hours elsewhere. Seventh, Alaska now does business and provides services to areas that do not use [daylight saving time], such as the Pacific Far East, including China and Japan. Advancing our clocks increases the time between them and us. Eighth, Alaska workers, such as myself, who are on the job early in the morning, actually lose daylight when sun up is delayed by the use of [daylight saving time]. Work and commuting are much safer during daylight hours. Ninth, people are impacted by [daylight saving time] when sleep and eating patterns are upset. The sun's position does not jive with the time of the day. The sun is highest in Anchorage now at 2 p.m., and will be during this period of [daylight saving time]. On a hot summer day, this causes the heat to extend long into the evening hours. [Last], most of Alaska is on permanent [daylight saving time]. In 1983, Alaskans living in all areas West of the Yukon Territory, including Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Nome, advanced their clocks one hour permanently. Now, from April to October, these same Alaskans experience ... double [daylight saving time]. The evidence is apparent: Alaska does not need [daylight saving time]. Let us first end the use of [daylight saving time] and then proceed to any permanent time zone changes. [Daylight saving time] has to be one of the most invasive laws in existence. Twice a year, by government fiat, every Alaskan is forced to change every time keeping device they own, endure a form of state-sponsored jet lag, and have the sun be as much as three hours off of clock time. What is the clear and present need for this? Article I of our Alaska [State] Constitution recognizes the right of people to privacy. Would you please respect that right and end the use of [daylight saving time] in Alaska? Thank you. 11:12:36 AM VICE CHAIR GATTO, regarding Mr. Willis' remark about the equator, noted that daylight time does change in the equator, it just changes less than the extreme changes of the poles. 11:13:21 AM ROBERT WEBER, testifying on behalf of himself, said he runs a welding shop and a time zone in relation to his dealing with others is meaningless. He clarified he means that Alaska doesn't share a time zone with any place else, thus it doesn't matter whether the state is one hour or five hours off from anywhere else, because everyone is aware of the time zones. He stated there is a misconception regarding what is sunset and when it's dark. Where he lives, he explained, the sun may set two to four hours before it actually gets dark, for example. Alaska is big, and Juneau is the only area in the state that is close to a "normal" time zone related to the sun's rising and setting. He noted that Little Diomede has a four-hour time difference between Big Diomede, yet is only three miles away. Parts of our state are in the Eastern hemisphere, a fact that he said people "keep forgetting." MR. WEBER said, "I hope to see some common sense come out of this bill, and at the very least, stop the gut-wrenching, get- up-an-hour-early-in-the-spring thing." He said his daughter and her fellow classmates had to take the federal placement test one day after the time change. He added, "Getting up at 4:30 in the morning is not good for test results." He indicated that things couldn't really be made right "unless you establish six time zones." Notwithstanding that, he concluded, "You can't make everybody happy, so at the very least, ... keep us at a normal rate." 11:17:23 AM PAULEEN FLOYD, testifying on behalf of herself in support of HB 176, said she came to Alaska about 36 years ago and wondered why the state had daylight saving time. She observed, "It seems to me that the sun itself sets the time for Alaska, and not the clock." She noted that senior citizens have trouble changing their clock, because it throws off their schedule and the timing of taking medication. 11:18:50 AM LELAND FISHBACK, testifying on behalf of himself in support of HB 176, said he is a full-time teacher to children with disabilities. He said the time change really affects students. He said he teaches autistic students who need "sameness." Any changes, such as to the weather or time, really affects them a lot. On a personal note, he said he has three teenage daughters who are drivers. Statistics, he said, show that there is an increase in traffic accidents after the time change in the spring. Mr. Fishback said e-mail and computers allow business to be conducted across the states. He encouraged the committee to support the bill as written. 11:20:59 AM MR. FISHBACK, in response to a question from Vice Chair Gatto, said studies show that people get in the habit of going to bed at a certain time, which is why the time change is difficult. He added that, as a country, "we are constantly sleep deprived," and the time change makes that worse. 11:22:01 AM RANDY RAMUGLIA, testifying on behalf of himself, said he is a businessperson who does business with others across the country and the four-hour time difference [between Alaska and the East Coast] is "a huge hindrance to doing business." He offered an example. He said he thinks it's important that if the legislature votes to do away with daylight saving time, it includes the amendment suggested by Representative Gardner. In response to a comment from Vice Chair Gatto, he reiterated that having the extra hour in which to do business makes a huge difference. It does not require having daylight saving time if Alaska were to go on Pacific time. He clarified, "If we cannot go to Pacific time, I would be opposed to doing away with [daylight saving time], because the five-hour difference would ... have a very severe impact financially on my company and, I'm sure, many other businesses in Alaska." In response to a question from Vice Chair Gatto, he indicated that it is not a big problem to change several clocks twice a year. 11:24:37 AM VICE CHAIR GATTO asked Mr. Ramuglia if he is aware that reminders to change the batteries in smoke detectors often coincide with the bi-annual clock change. MR. RAMUGLIA answered no; however, he said his alarms make a noise when the batteries are low. 11:26:21 AM REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER said she used to work for Mr. Ramuglia, and every year there was an employee who came in late due to the time change. She said she would routinely go to work at 6 a.m. in order to communicate with businesses on the East Coast. 11:28:48 AM REPRESENTATIVE RAMRAS said he opposes "doing anything with [daylight saving time]." He offered an anecdote. He said Alaska is unique because it straddles all the numerous global time zones and markets, and he said he was told that Alaska has the potential to grow as a global financial center because of its unique geography, which he indicated may be a good reason not to "monkey with [daylight saving time]." 11:37:03 AM REPRESENTATIVE SALMON indicated that one question to ask is whether the state should be "stuck on" daylight saving time or standard time. [HB 176 was heard and held.]
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