ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas Rep. Johnny Rye wrote house bill 1039, which would put daylight saving time into effect year-round, after listening to community concerns and voters reaching out to him about the topic.
“Starting in November at around 4 p.m., there’s a lot of folks that’s going home and maybe needing to go by the store or something real quick and they’re not having time to do so before it’s dark,” said Rep. Johnny Rye.
The bill would put “daylight saving time” into effect in Arkansas all year long, but only once all neighboring states have agreed.
“It could really cause a big problem. That’s why it’s all tied together with the region of people that are surrounding Arkansas,” said Rye.
The region includes Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
“What we like about this is we don’t make any moves until the states around us do the same thing,” Rye explained.
State officials and medical professionals say time change can affect your health.
“I think this questioning of the law we’ve had in the books for the last 50 or 60 years of daylight saving time is a good time for all of us to sort of reflect on what an appropriate time in circadian rhythm would be like for us to live and try and fall in line with that, ” said Dr. Upton Siddons.
Siddons says whether you’re changing the clock forward or backward, it can have a negative impact on a person’s body and it takes some time to adjust.
“There’s still a week after a time switch in which we’re sort of feeling that crunch. We’re still not adjusted and I think there certainly can be a significant lag time which will of course affect all of us,” said Siddons.
Rep. Johnny Rye says this bill is similar to one filed last year that did not make it through both chambers of the General Assembly.
He’s hoping once the new session starts next week, more lawmakers will consider voting for the bill.
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