1 TITLE: A RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS
2 TO ANALYZE THE HEALTH AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF
4 COMMITTEE: TRANSPORTATION
5 TYPE: ACTION CALENDAR RESOLUTION
6
7 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES:
8
9 WHEREAS 15 U.S.C. 260 - 267 (Uniform Time Act of 1966) establishes a system of uniform
10 time within standard time zones, and 15 U.S.C. 260a establishes daylight saving time for the
11 nation1; and
12
13 WHEREAS daylight saving time originally began during World War I primarily to save fuel by
14 reducing the need to produce electrical power for artificial lighting2; and
15
16 WHEREAS a recent study at the University of California, Santa Barbara, showed that the
17 introduction of daylight saving time in Indiana increased electricity costs by millions of dollars3;
18 and
19
20 WHEREAS during transitions into and out of daylight saving time, people sensitive to the time
21 of sunrise and sunset experience a disruption of their circadian rhythm, a recognized sleep
22 disorder similar to jet lag4; and
23 24 WHEREAS in two separate studies it was found that the March switch to daylight saving time
25 resulted in 40 minutes less sleep for American workers, a 5.7 percent increase in workplace
26 injuries and nearly 68 percent more work days lost to injuries5; and
27
28 WHEREAS economists have found that sleep-deprived traders typically produce “large negative
29 returns on financial-market indices” in the week following the shift to daylight saving time6; and
30
31 WHEREAS a study throughout Canada in 1991 and 1992 by Stanley Coren of the
32 University of British Columbia found an eight percent jump in traffic accidents on the
33 Monday after clocks are moved ahead7; and
34
35 WHEREAS a similar study, using information from the U. S. National Highway Traffic Safety
36 Administration, cited sleep deprivation as the most likely cause of a 17 percent increase in
37 accidents on the Monday following the time change7; and
38
39 WHEREAS Alaska, Utah, Florida, Nevada and Montana have all introduced legislation to
40 eliminate or study the elimination of daylight saving time in their state8; and
41
42 WHEREAS Two states—Arizona and Hawaii—and four U.S. territories—American Samoa,
43 Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—do not observe daylight saving time9; and
44
45 WHEREAS many teachers and administrators have suggested that there is a disruption in
46 student productivity as the nation transitions into and out of daylight saving time10; and 47
48 WHEREAS every transition into and out of daylight saving time requires the population to
49 waste time changing the settings on clocks and other items; and
50
51 WHEREAS communication technology has improved the ability of businesses to interact with
52 vendors around the world; and
53
54 WHEREAS there are benefits to the nation of not changing time during the year, including the
55 benefit to businesses of having a consistent time for communicating with their business partners
56 in other American time zones and international time zones;
57
58 BE IT RESOLVED that the National Conference of State Legislatures urges the Department of
59 Transportation to study the health and economic impact of daylight saving time and provide a
60 report with the findings to the United States Congress.
61
62 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United
63 States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President of
64 the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the
65 Honorable John Boehner, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable
66 Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority
67 Leader of the U.S. Senate.
68
69 70 Footnotes:
71
72 1: http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/usc.html
73 2: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0330_040330_daylightsavings.html
74 3: http://www.nber.org/papers/w14429.pdf?new_window=1
75 4: http://bit.ly/Circadianclock
76 5: http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/apl9451317.pdf
77 6: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~lkramer/aer-daylightsaving-reply.pdf
78 7: http://www.mcmaster.ca/inabis98/occupational/coren0164/two.html
79 8: Alaska – 2010 – HB19; Utah – 2010 – SJR15; Florida – 2000 – HB783;
80 Nevada – 2005 – HB18; Montana – 2009 – SB177
81 9: http://www.timeanddate.com
82 10: http://www.sleep.theclinics.com/article/S1556-407X(05)00007-X/fulltext