Photo: Moment RF
The Texas Legislative session starts less than a week from today, and legislation has already been proposed that could end Texas' participation in daylight saving time. It's an issue that has been tossed around for years in Austin, but nothing has come of it.
Bills that would have eliminated the practice of switching time backward or forward an hour twice each year have managed to make it through the Texas House of Representatives in years past, but they've never been able to get all the way through the legislative process.
State Senator Jose Menendez said that, "The State of Texas is silent on the whole issue of daylight saving. We haven't addressed it even though many of us have filed bills on it for quite some time."
Menendez went on to say that he had no real preference as to whether Texas sticks with Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time, so long as we quit switching back and forth. He suggested leaving the choice up to the voters, saying, "We're in a modern age, where we can acclimate to whatever the voters decide, whether it's standard time or daylight saving, but the going back and forth is a pain."
Menendez pointed to health and productivity concerns as reasons to pick one consistent time to stick to, rather than jumping forward an hour in the spring and then falling back an hour again in the fall.
So far, bills relating to daylight saving have been filed by both senators and representatives from both parties, including Sen. Mayes Middleton, Rep. John Bucy, Rep. Mike Schofield, and Sen. Judith Zaffirini. Sen. Menendez also indicated that he had plans to file a bill relating to the issue as well.
