Time To Keep Daylight Saving, Lakewood Couple Proposes
DENVER (CBS4/AP) - A Lakewood couple says it's high time to talk about permanently keeping Colorado on Mountain Daylight Time.
"I don't like the time changes," Sean Johnson says.
He dislikes them enough to propose a 2016 ballot measure that would end Mountain Standard Time, which runs from the first Sunday in November through the second Sunday in March. If passed, clocks in Colorado would neither spring forward nor fall back, and residents would gain an hour of sunlight during the evening.
According to the Associated Press, Johnson, aside from going through the legal formalities and getting approval for the initiative's wording, would need to collect at least 86,105 signatures to put the question on the November 2016 ballot. The signature-gathering process is likely a year or so away.
"It's all about the people," he said. "If the people want it, this will happen."
Johnson and his wife, Teri, argue that staying on Mountain Daylight Time would reduce missed appointments and help businesses. He cites a 2009 study from the Psychological Association that found that the time changes lead to a slight increase in workplace injuries. Plus, Johnson said, children would have an extra hour of sunlight to play outside during the winter months if Colorado is always on Daylight Time.
Hawaii and most of Arizona are the only places that don't participate in daylight savings.
In 2011, Republican state Sen. Greg Brophy proposed a bill that, like Johnson's proposal, would keep Colorado permanently on Mountain Daylight Time. Lawmakers rejected the bill, citing programming costs to the state Department of Revenue to make the change permanent.
Johnson will speak to legislative attorneys about his proposal Dec. 9.
But some CBS4 talked to don't seem to care much about the issue.
"It doesn't really bother me," longtime clock repairman Leroy Myrick said. But he said he would love not to be tampering with time twice yearly.
"Most of them you have to stop the clock until time catches up," Myrick said.
He has 75 clocks to change twice a year. He could save a lot of time if this idea goes through, he said.
LINK: StopTheTimeChanges.com
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