Peoria lawmaker wants Arizona on daylight saving time

Rep. Phil Lovas, R-Peoria, wants to repeal the 1967 state law in which Arizona exempted itself from daylight saving time, saying a three-hour difference with government and financial centers back East for eight months of the year is bad for business.

Lovas acknowledged there are potential drawbacks of having Arizona spring ahead and fall back with the rest of the country.

For example, he said moving clocks an hour ahead from the first Sunday in March through the first Sunday in November would mean later sunrises and result in some months where children would end up going to school in the dark.

But Lovas said some of the concerns that have caused Arizona lawmakers to keep the state out of step with the rest of the country have pretty much disappeared, like the drive-in theaters that used to be so popular.

He acknowledged that after so many years of tradition, he may have an uphill fight getting approval for HB 2014.

Prior efforts to scrap the exemption have failed, but he said “it’s worth taking another look at.”

The federal government enacted the Uniform Time Act in 1966, making daylight saving universal.

But Arizona exercised its option to opt out after one summer of post-9 p.m. sundowns, when, by the time it cooled off enough to go outdoors, it was too late to do much of anything.

Lovas said a lot has changed since then, such as almost universal air conditioning making the heat a non-issue.

A few weeks of kids going to school in the dark each spring and fall shouldn’t keep Arizona from making a move he asserts would be good for business — particularly those with dealings in the Eastern time zone.

If the measure gets approved and signed by Gov. Doug Ducey, it would put all of Arizona back in the same time zone.

The Navajo Nation, which spans three states, already observes daylight saving time.

The only other state where the clocks do not change is Hawaii.