1 TITLE: A RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS 2 TO ANALYZE THE HEALTH AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF 3 DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME 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 .