An Iowa Senate subcommittee moved forward a bill on Tuesday that will make daylight savings time permanent in the state of Iowa. While that is the goal of the bill, it cannot happen until Congress allows it, however.
With that in mind, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday as well that makes daylight savings time permanent.
Leslie Carpenter spoke on behalf of the Iowa Mental Health Advocacy group and noted the organization supports the measure.
“Mostly from the standpoint of wanting to have a steady time throughout the whole year,” she said.
Carpenter said people with serious brain illnesses would benefit from a consistent time year-round.
“A more steady schedule throughout the whole year would be extremely beneficial for many people,” she said.
Dustin Miller, representing the broadcasters and chamber alliances, spoke against the bill. He said there are issues from a national broadcasting perspective and doubts the group will ever be supportive of the bill.
As for the chamber, Miller said there are a number of members opposed — especially in border communities. Miller said the Sioux City Chamber Director could potentially have to manage different time zones in three different states.
Democrat Sen. Eric Giddens said he likes the idea of a consistent time all year, but would prefer standard time.
“I’m going to come down on moving this forward right now,” he said. “We’ll see if there are any amendments that need to be made to strengthen it or not. For today, I’d like to see consistency year-round.”
Republican Sen. Jeff Reichman said he lived in Hawaii where it is standard time all year.
“I didn’t really like the fact that it got dark at 8 o’clock at night,” he said. “I like the longer days. I’m kind of a summer person.”
He moved the bill forward, as did Republican Sen. Craig Johnson.
Megan Salois, a meteorologist in central Iowa, said on Twitter that if the bill passes, Iowans should prepare for sunrise just before 9 a.m. for a few weeks in the winter.
