Daylight saving time would be observed as standard time year-round in Florida if a proposed bill to exempt the Sunshine State from making the twice-yearly time change moves all the way forward.
On Tuesday, the Sunshine Protection Act, which would see Florida switch to daylight saving time for keeps, received a unanimous 6-0 vote from the Community Affairs Committee which received the bill in November, NBC reported.
If the bill is passed, Florida would join Arizona and Hawaii – as well as overseas U.S. territories including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands – in observing one time, Fox News reported.
The proposal, which must still go before the Senate Commerce and Tourism and Rules committees before making it to the Senate floor, would also relocate Florida’s panhandle from the central time zone to the eastern time zone.
Sen. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican who is sponsoring the proposal, said the idea came to him during a visit to his local barbershop.
“One of the barbers had young children and it had such a negative impact every time they set their clocks back [that they had trouble] getting their kids up for school,” he told the Senate Community Affairs Committee meeting on Tuesday, per The Miami Herald.
He filed the bill and so far has received overwhelming backing from the public.
“If you look at statistics on when people typically shop, they typically shop during the daytime,” he said, per The Sun-Sentinel.
“I’ve heard from mayors from all across the state because they’re going to save money on softball fields because it will stay light later in the day.”
Heather Fitzenhagen, a sponsor of the House measure, noted that the move to observe daylight savings time year-round would “boost the economy, save energy, improve road and public safety, and reduce crime due to the fact there is more sunlight in the evening hours,” according to the Herald.
The Sun-Sentinel noted that, according to a Senate staff analysis, there would be “indeterminate” and “insignificant” costs involved in making the change.