Clock may be expiring on attempt to permanently shift Kansas to standard time

TOPEKA — Unintended consequences of a proposed Kansas law ending observance of daylight saving time appeared likely to undermine an effort in the Legislature to permanently place the state on standard time starting in November.
Under Senate Bill 1, if approved by the House and Senate and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, the state would cling to standard time year-round starting 2 a.m. Nov. 2. The 12-month observation of standard time would mean Kansans no longer flipped to daylight saving time in the spring.
Clay Barker, general counsel and deputy secretary of state for Kansas, said Secretary of State Scott Schwab had no position on the question of retaining the status quo or permanently adhering to standard time. Schwab opposed, however, text in the bill requiring the secretary of state to monitor federal law in the event Congress decided to adopt year-round observation of daylight saving time, Barker said.
“The agency has no staff expertise, institutional knowledge, experience or resources to track the wide array of federal laws, rules, regulations and lawful orders that could directly or indirectly reference central daylight-saving time,” Barker said.
Under federal law, states retain the option of opting out of daylight saving time and staying with standard time throughout the year. Federal law doesn’t permit a state to adopt permanent daylight saving time.
Sen. Kenny Titus, R-Manhattan, introduced the bill because health experts overwhelmingly recommended adoption of standard time. Experts say it would better align with the human circadian rhythm and lead to a healthier sleep cycle. There would be mental health benefits associated with standard time, he said.
“Anecdotally, I can say that the vast majority of Kansans support ending the changing of clocks but there was no clear consensus on whether standard or daylight saving time was better,” Titus said.
Sen. Mike Thompson, the Republican chairman of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, said it was unlikely the GOP-led committee would advance Titus’ bill this session. The committee conducted a hearing Thursday on the legislation touted by Titus.
Thompson said businesses and residents of metropolitan areas divided by two states would be challenged to operate on two different clocks. It would result in confusion among people unadjusted to the distinction, he said. Differences applicable to Kansas and Missouri residents would complicate routine activities, including television broadcasting, said Thompson, a retired meteorologist.
Allison Mazzei, president of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, said adoption of the legislation would make it more difficult to manage Kansas-based radio stations with signals reaching into states that retained daylight saving time.
It would undermine the morning drive time and impact revenue from commercial advertising especially for AM stations required to reduce power at a certain time in the morning hours, she said.
“Broadcasters nationwide oppose state-by-state time shifts, because adopting different time standards on an individual basis would put each state out of sync with its neighbors, making program scheduling as chaotic as the patchwork time zone map,” Mazzei said.
