Fall Back: Could Montana Cancel Daylight Saving Time For Good?

The time adjustments in the Fall and Spring are always strange things to get used to. Just this morning, when I woke my son up for school, he said "It is still dark outside, it is too early for school." I had to give him a quick explanation about the earth and the sun, all while wrestling to get his clothes on. Soon it will be dark for most of the day. Yet, every year we seem to forget about this transition. That is until it is time to turn back the clocks.

The end of Daylight Saving time is coming up soon. Meaning we are going to "fall back" one hour. This will bring much-needed daylight to get my son out of bed. But, what if Montana decided to keep Daylight Saving Time permanently? Or abolish it altogether?

A few states are currently voting on legislation to "lock the clock." Meaning they want to end the twice-a-year clock adjustment, and just keep Daylight Saving Time all year.

6 states that are trying to "lock the clock" include:

• Michigan
• Wisconsin
• Ohio
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Pennsylvania

These states have been voting on bills to keep Daylight Saving Time for years. But they always seem to fall flat in the state Congress. Yet, they keep trying every year. It is only a matter of time (pun intended) before these states get these bills signed into law.

Arizona and Hawaii currently do not practice the Daylight Saving Time ritual.

According to Wikipedia, The Uniform Time Act of 1966 stands in the way of Montana being able to "lock the clock."

The law, as originally written, required states that observe DST to begin it at 2 a.m. local time on the last Sunday in April, and to end it at 2 a.m. local time on the last Sunday in October and explicitly preempted all state laws related to daylight saving time per the weights and measures power given to Congress in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. In 1972, the act was amended to allow states with more than one timezone to exempt only one timezone from DST, in addition to exempting the whole state.

Unless the Federal Government repeals the Uniform Time Act, it appears that Montana is stuck with the bi-annual clock change.