A bill to end Daylight Saving Time in Alaska is unlikely to pass the State House this session, though the bill previously passed the Senate 16-4.
The House State Affairs Committee yesterday heard from frustrated business owners…
Testimony: “Daylight Saving Time is pretty much useless, but as long as the majority of the country is doing it, we need to align ourselves so we do not alienate Alaskans. It would have an adverse economic impact on these tourism businesses that conduct evening activities, especially in the waning hours in late August and September, some of our busiest tourism months. I can’t imagine what other businesses, how they would survive with their busiest hour taken away.”
Aside from the business impacts, the Sponsor of the bill, Sen. Anna MacKinnon, argued the health benefits of ceasing the clock change.
Kevin Phillips from the Alaska Sleep Clinic…
Phillips: “It takes about a day or two for each hour you lose to get your body back in sync with what you’re doing. So it’s not too big of a change, having an hour, but with a lot of people already not having enough sleep in their life, an hour can be s bigger impact.”
The House Committee formed a sub-committee to work on the bill during the interim, appointing Reps. Wes Keller, Liz Vazquez and Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.