Split panel kills bill to drop time change; poll finds support, opposition nearly equal
JARED MILLER Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Nearly half of Wyoming voters who have an opinion about daylight-saving time want to see it gone, according to a new Casper Star-Tribune poll.
But an effort to eliminate the time change fell flat in a legislative committee Tuesday.
A Jan. 9-11 survey by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research showed that 41 percent of Wyoming voters want to eliminate daylight-saving time and that 44 percent oppose the change - a statistical tie when factoring in the poll's 4 percent margin of error. Fifteen percent of voters are undecided.
"For me it's more of a hassle having to change back and forth, more than anything," said Gail Johnson, a supporter of the legislation who lives in Eden.
The Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee voted 3-2 to kill a bill by Sen. Stan Cooper, R-Kemmerer, to allow Wyoming to opt out of the federal requirement.
"I just think it's a terrible idea to go back and be different than the rest of the country," said Sen. Grant Larson, R-Jackson, who sits on the committee.
Cooper introduced the bill in an effort to end a practice in Wyoming he said disrupts sleep patterns, results in tired drivers on the roads, slows worker productivity and may not produce the energy savings proclaimed by its boosters.
"I think there is a great deal of inconvenience and difficulty that people have in their lives twice a year, and we don't really need it," Cooper told the committee before the vote.
Cooper also said Tuesday that he was offended that some opponents of the legislation criticized it as a waste of the Legislature's time. Cooper said the bill-bashing insults the constituents who asked him to carry the bill.
"When you have constituents who have a concern, whether major or minor, they have every right to be represented," Cooper said in an interview after the committee meeting.
Gay Woodhouse, a lobbyist speaking on her own behalf, opposed the bill in the committee, but added she might support a change if it meant daylight-saving time all year long. Cooper later said legislative lawyers told him that the federal government would likely fight such a move.
Committee member Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, said "total confusion" could result if Wyoming is not in line with other states in the nation. Only Hawaii and Arizona do not observe the practice.
"I think that's the real difficulty with this, is it would put us different than the cities that we have to do business with most," Scott said.
Peter Reno, manager of a livestock production operation outside Gillette, said he was sorry to see the bill die.
"Usually in the summertime there is plenty of daylight in this northern latitude we live in, without daylight-saving time," Reno said.
A change in federal law this year will extend daylight-saving time by four weeks. Daylight-saving time normally begins on the last Sunday in March or the first Sunday in April, and ends on the last Sunday in October. The new law shifts the start date to the second Sunday in March and extends the period until the first Sunday in November. It's unclear if the change is permanent.
Cooper said he's not sure if he'll propose similar legislation in the future. Past Legislatures have defeated similar measures.
Reach capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.