What to Know
- The Senate Community Affairs Committee voted in favor of the proposal, the "Sunshine Protection Act," by a 6-0 margin Tuesday
- The bill would have the Florida Panhandle, which is mostly in the central time zone, join the rest of the state in the Eastern time zone
- Currently, Hawaii and most of Arizona are the only other states exempt from daylight saving time.
A bill that would keep all of Florida in the same time zone and under daylight saving time year-round took a step closer to reality Tuesday.
The Senate Community Affairs Committee voted in favor of the proposal, the "Sunshine Protection Act," by a 6-0 margin Tuesday.
The bill, SB 858, would have the Florida Panhandle, which remains mostly in the central time zone, join the rest of the state in the Eastern time zone.
Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, initially sought to exempt the Sunshine State from daylight saving time when he filed the bill in November. But an amendment to the bill filed on Monday would have the state observe daylight saving time year-round.
Currently, Hawaii and most of Arizona are the only other states exempt from daylight saving time.
If the bill passes and is signed by the governor, it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2019. It would still need to be approved by Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Local
An analysis by the Community Affairs Committee says the costs of the change would be "insignificant," with the only impact coming from reprogramming computers and other electronic devices to eliminate the automatic changing of the clocks.
