WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Riccelli statement on Federal Support for Permanent Daylight Saving Time

Statement from Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, on Federal Support for Permanent Daylight Saving Time

May 10, 2019

This session, the Washington State Legislature finally took a major step in moving to permanent daylight saving time. While I am thrilled to see this legislation make it to the governor’s desk, this action still requires Congressional approval.

This week, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, expressed support to move our state to permanent daylight saving time, including co-sponsoring the Sunshine Protection Act in the United States Senate.

Earlier today, Sen. Murray issued the following statement, “Thanks to the determination of state leaders like Rep. Marcus Riccelli and local stakeholders, I’m glad to see Washington state take a major step toward adopting permanent daylight saving time to help improve public safety, health, and wellbeing. I’m ready to get to work in the Senate to make permanent daylight saving time a reality in our state, including working across the aisle on legislation to expand daylight saving for the full year and exploring other options to ensure our federal laws work for Washington state families.”

I want to thank Sen. Murray for her leadership and support of permanent daylight saving time. She weighed in at critical times during our state policy making process, and I am very grateful for her strong leadership at the federal level. The Sunshine Protection Act is getting bipartisan support, which goes to show how popular this idea is becoming. Switching our clocks twice a year is an archaic tradition that does more harm than good. It’s time to #DitchTheSwitch and move our time zone in unison to permanent daylight saving time.