Health Impact Review of SB 5250 Concerning Permanent Daylight Saving Time in Washington State (2019 Legislative Session)
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Executive Summary: Health Impact Review of SB 5250 Concerning permanent daylight saving time in Washington state (2019 Legislative Session) Evidence indicates that SB 5250 has the potential to improve health outcomes, particularly on days that would immediately follow a transition to or from daylight saving time. The evidence for the impact of implementing year-round daylight saving time on health inequities is not well researched. BILL INFORMATION Sponsors: Mullet, Palumbo, Billig, Das, Hunt Summary of Bill: Establishes the standard time for Washington State as permanent daylight saving time year-round, if authorized by the United States Congress. Requires the Department of Commerce to provide notice of the effective date to affected parties, the chief clerk of the House of Representatives, the secretary of the Senate, the Office of the Code Reviser, and others as deemed appropriate by the Department of Commerce. Requires the Secretary of State to submit this act to the people for their adoption and ratification, or rejection, at the next general election held in the State of Washington. HEALTH IMPACT REVIEW Summary of Findings: This Health Impact Review found the following evidence regarding the provisions in SB 5250: Strong evidence that implementing year-round daylight saving time would likely improve health outcomes, particularly on days that would immediately follow a transition to or from daylight saving time. The evidence for the impact of implementing year-round daylight saving time on health inequities is not well researched. For more information: Phone: (360) 628-7342 Email: [email protected] sboh.wa.gov/hir Health Impact Review of SB 5250 Concerning permanent daylight saving time in Washington state (2019 Legislative Session) January 17, 2019 Staff contact: Caitlin Lang-Perez Phone: (360) 628-7342 Email: [email protected] Contents Introduction and Methods ............................................................................................................... 1 Analysis of SB 5250 and the Scientific Evidence .......................................................................... 2 Logic Model .................................................................................................................................... 4 Summaries of Findings ................................................................................................................... 5 Annotated References ..................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction and Methods A Health Impact Review is an analysis of how a proposed legislative or budgetary change will likely impact health and health disparities in Washington State (RCW 43.20.285). For the purpose of this review ‘health disparities’ have been defined as the differences in disease, death, and other adverse health conditions that exist between populations (RCW 43.20.270). This document provides summaries of the evidence analyzed by State Board of Health staff during the Health Impact Review of Senate Bill 5250 (SB 5250). Staff analyzed the content of SB 5250 and created a logic model depicting possible pathways leading from the provisions of the bill to health outcomes. We consulted with experts and contacted key informants about the provisions and potential impacts of the bill. We conducted an objective review of published literature for each pathway using databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, and University of Washington Libraries. More information about key informants and detailed methods are available upon request. The following pages provide a detailed analysis of the bill including the logic model, summaries of evidence, and annotated references. The logic model is presented both in text and through a flowchart (Figure 1). The logic model includes information on the strength-of-evidence for each relationship. The strength-of-evidence has been defined using the following criteria: Not well researched: the review of literature yielded few if any studies or only yielded studies that were poorly designed or executed or had high risk of bias. A fair amount of evidence: the review of literature yielded several studies supporting the association, but a large body of evidence was not established; or the review yielded a large body of evidence but findings were inconsistent with only a slightly larger percentage of the studies supporting the association; or the research did not incorporate the most robust study designs or execution or had a higher than average risk of bias. Strong evidence: the review of literature yielded a large body of evidence on the relationship (a vast majority of which supported the association) but the body of evidence did contain some contradictory findings or studies that did not incorporate the most robust study designs or execution or had a higher than average risk of bias; or there were too few studies to reach the rigor of “very strong evidence;” or some combination of these. Very strong evidence: the review of literature yielded a very large body of robust evidence supporting the association with few if any contradictory findings. The evidence indicates that the scientific community largely accepts the existence of the association. This review was subject to time constraints, which influenced the scope of work for this review. The annotated references are only a representation of the evidence and provide examples of current research. In some cases only a few review articles or meta-analyses are referenced. One article may cite or provide analysis of dozens of other articles. Therefore the number of references included in the bibliography does not necessarily reflect the strength-of-evidence. In addition, some articles provide evidence for more than one research question, so are referenced multiple times. 1 January 2019 - Health Impact Review of SB 5250 Analysis of SB 5250 and the Scientific Evidence Summary of relevant background information It is U.S. policy (U.S. Code, Title 15 §260) to “promote the adoption and observance of uniform time within standard time zones […] the [U.S.] Secretary of Transportation is authorized and directed to foster and promote widespread and uniform adoption and observance of the same standard of time within and throughout each such standard time zone.”1 Federal law requires states to observe daylight saving time (DST) from early March to early November and standard time the remainder of the year.1 However, states are permitted to implement standard time year-round, without federal approval, as Hawaii and Arizona have done. Adopting DST year-round requires Congressional and Presidential approval. In 2018, H.R.6202 was introduced to the 115th U.S. Congress. The legislation would allow states to elect to observe year-round DST.2 The proposal was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Currently, three other states have proposals to implement DST year-round. o In March 2018, Florida passed the “Sunshine Protection Act” (Florida Statute 1.025), making it the only state to adopt DST year-round.3 While legislation to authorize Florida’s act has been introduced in the U.S. Congress (S.2537 and H.R. 5279), neither chamber has voted on the proposals.4 o In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 7, which encourages the legislature to consider instituting year-round DST.5 The proposition also requires a two- thirds vote of the Legislature to change the period of DST. In December 2018, Assembly members introduced Assembly Bill 7 to establish California’s standard time to year-round DST.6 o In January 2019, Oregon legislators introduced legislation (House Bill 2297) to abolish the annual one-hour change in time from standard time to DST and to maintain Oregon on DST all year.7 Summary of SB 5250 Establishes the standard time for Washington State as permanent daylight saving time year-round, if authorized by the United States Congress. Requires the Department of Commerce to provide notice of the effective date to affected parties, the chief clerk of the House of Representatives, the secretary of the Senate, the Office of the Code Reviser, and others as deemed appropriate by the Department of Commerce. Requires the Secretary of State to submit this act to the people for their adoption and ratification, or rejection, at the next general election held in the State of Washington. 2 January 2019 - Health Impact Review of SB 5250 Health impact of SB 5250 Evidence indicates that SB 5250 has the potential to improve health outcomes, particularly on days that would immediately follow a transition to or from DST. The evidence for the impact of implementing year-round DST on health disparities is not well researched. Pathway to health impacts The potential pathways leading from the provisions of SB 5250 are depicted in Figure 1. There is strong evidence that implementing year-round DST would likely improve health outcomes such as heart attack and stroke, particularly on the days that would have immediately followed a transition to or from DST.8-21 The likely impact of implementing year-round DST on health disparities is not well researched. Due to time limitations we only researched the most direct connections between the provisions of the bill, health, and health disparities and did not explore the evidence for all possible pathways. We specifically looked at the provisions in the bill that would establish daylight saving time as the year-round standard time in Washington State. For example, potential pathways