In Our View: Daylight-saving switch must be made in sync

The sun might be setting, so to speak, on standard time in Washington. The state House of Representatives has passed a bill to keep the state on daylight saving time, er, around the clock.

While the idea seems to have support from the public, it is essential for Washington to remain on the same schedule as other West Coast states and British Columbia. For Clark County residents, being in a different time zone from Oregon for part of the year would be more troublesome than the mild annoyance of changing our clocks twice a year.

On Saturday, the House passed a bill to keep Washington on daylight saving time throughout the year. The 89-7 vote included support from all Clark County representatives and sent the bill to the state Senate. But even if Gov. Jay Inslee eventually signs the legislation, Washington still would need an act of Congress to enact the law.

The federal Uniform Time Act allows states to adopt standard time throughout the year and eschew the changing of the clocks, but it does not provide for year-round daylight saving time. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has introduced legislation to give states more leeway, but earlier attempts at such a change have not been given the time of day by colleagues.

Waiting for Congress to act might give Washington and neighboring states the time they need to adjust. California voters approved a measure in November to establish daylight saving year-round, but that is dependent upon Congress; Oregon’s Legislature is considering similar action; and in British Columbia, Premier John Horgan wrote to leaders of Western states: “It makes sense to me that we move in unison on this matter. Here in British Columbia no change is imminent, but we are closely following developments on the West Coast of the U.S.”

For Clark County residents, close ties to Portland dictate the need to move in unison. If Oregon is on standard time and Washington on daylight saving time, leaving work in downtown Portland at 5:30 p.m. for an hourlong commute will result in a 7:30 p.m. arrival. Attending, say, a Trail Blazers game or a concert in Portland will lead to a late-night trip home. In other words, changing time during each bridge crossing would be a little more confusing than the biannual switch.

Of course, humans long have had difficulty developing a time system that effectively organizes our busy lives. According to Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times: “Most people may not know that the current system of time zones at one-hour variants only dates from 1883, when the U.S. railroad industry needed an alternative to the labyrinth of local times, often set by towns or villages, that made a hash of railway timetables. At noon in Philadelphia, according to a card that travelers could keep on their persons in 1862, the time was 10:59 a.m. in St. Louis, 11:10 in Chicago, 12:04 p.m. in New York, 12:06 in Albany, and 12:16 in Boston. The railway guide compiling all these variations ran to 200 pages.”

It is safe to say we have made progress since then, and the desire for an extra hour of sunlight in the afternoon is understandable. As Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane and sponsor of the House bill, noted: “We’re on daylight saving time eight months of the year already.”

We envision no problems with extending that to 12 months of the year — provided that neighboring states are on the same schedule.