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.