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State officials ask Utahns to vote on value of Daylight Saving Time

Posted at 9:17 PM, Jun 20, 2014
and last updated 2014-06-20 23:18:47-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Springing forward and falling back: Is Daylight Saving Time helpful or hurtful?

That's what Utah lawmakers want to know. They want the public to tell them if Daylight Saving Time is more trouble than it's worth.

"I love clocks," said Norm Recksiek, who knows all about daylight saving. Time is his life's passion.

"I have no problem with it one way or the other, it takes a while to get used to it, when we first do it each time but I have no problem with it," he said.

Some people, however, do.

"I wish they'd change it,” Nancy Parsons said. “It's a complete waste of time and money and it's hard one everyone's health.”

Springing forward and falling back in time is most common in the western world. A lot of countries don't practice it anymore, but the concept has been around for more than a century.

"I'm really interested to see what the public wants," said Representative Rhonda Menlove, who is teaming up with the Governor's Office of Economic Development to find out the pros and cons of Daylight Saving Time.

"The legislature has been looking at this for a couple years now," said Spencer P. Eccles, who is the Executive Director for the Office of Economic Development.

There's been a lot of talk about what's good and bad. Falling back makes for longer days and more money for tourism. Springing forward means kids don't have to walk to school in the dark, but the back and forth is what most people have a problem with.

"Public safety people, some say there's an increase in accidents when there's a change," Eccles said.

Some legislators said it's time to change the law.

"I'm just proposing that we don't switch,” Menlove said. “That we get one place or the other and live with it. Arizona is a state that has said, ‘We don't want to do Daylight Saving Time,’ and they get along just fine. So I think there's precedent for this.”

"If not one in Congress has the guts to change it, I wish we would just drop out," Parsons said.

Lawmakers want to hear from the public. There will be a forum on July 10 at the Clark Planatarium from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Everyone is invited to attend.

If you can't make it to the meeting you can vote online by clicking here.