SACRAMENTO, Calif._Californians would be asked in a November ballot measure whether to end the biannual practice of moving their clocks ahead and back to comply with the Daylight Saving Time Act, under a bill the Assembly approved Thursday and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration.
"This bill creates a pathway for California to stay on daylight saving time year-round," Assemblyman Kansen Chu, a Democrat, told his colleagues before they voted 63-4 to approve his bill.
If an initiative is approved by voters, the Legislature would be given the power, with a two-thirds vote, to initiate an end to the practice of advancing the clock by one hour on the second Sunday each March, and moving the clock hands back an hour on the first Sunday in November.
But federal approval would also be required.
Changing the clock twice a year came about as a way to save energy during World War I and World War II, but Chu said a 2008 study by the National Bureau of Economics disputed whether the amount saved was substantial.
"AB 807 is aimed to dramatically improve public health," Chu said. "Studies have shown that when we switch our clocks, that action alone increases the chances for heart attacks, workplace injuries, crime and traffic accidents."
