Lawmakers want to permanently move Ohio to daylight saving time

Some state lawmakers want Ohio to move permanently to daylight saving time.

Lawmakers are backing Concurrent Resolution 7, which would urge Congress to enact the Sunshine Uniformity Act of 2023.

The legislation would permanently move Ohio to daylight saving time. H.C.R. 7 was passed by the House State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday.

State Reps. Rodney Creech, R-West Alexandria, and Bob Peterson, R-Sabina, the bill's sponsors, believe it will benefit Ohioans.

"What we're talking about is eliminating the time change, because it's a disruption to people's lives," Peterson said.

Switching to daylight saving time could help combat some mental health issues from the darker winter evenings because standard time offers less sunlight at night, Creech said in a press release.

More: When does daylight saving time 2023 end and plunge us into early darkness?

Peterson said that research has shown an increase in automobile accidents the Monday after shifting to daylight saving time due to sleep deprivation.

"We in the legislature are very representative of Ohioans, and certainly some Ohioans prefer to have that hour of sunlight ... in the morning than in the afternoon, so that was a discussion in the committee," Peterson said. "But I don't know anybody that thinks that we should continue switching time."

He expects there to be further discussion on the House floor.

Also, in the committee process, there was discussion about not wanting to isolate Ohio from its surrounding neighbors by having a different time. However, Peterson said they are asking Congress to act so that the whole country is consistent.

Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, states have the freedom to change to standard time, but not daylight saving time. Right now, Arizona and Hawaii are the only states with permanent time.

"For Arizona, there's times throughout the year where they're on different timezone than their neighbors in California and ... other surrounding states," Peterson said. "We want to avoid that. That's why we would like Congress to act on this."

Sunday, Nov. 5, marks the end of daylight saving time.

Kayla Bennett is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism's Statehouse News Bureau.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio lawmakers want to put state permanently on daylight saving time