An Oregon state senator has introduced legislation she said is a better option than the daylight saving bill that continues to stall in Congress.
Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, said Senate Bill 1548 would adopt Pacific Standard Time for 12 months of the year, putting an end to switching from standard time to daylight saving time in the spring and then back to standard time in the fall.
The proposal is part of a multi-state effort shifting away from daylight saving time to instead make Pacific Standard Time permanent. Washington, Idaho and California have introduced similar concepts this year.
Thatcher said in the five years since Oregon passed the daylight saving time bill that has been languishing in Congress, momentum has built to move to standard time.
“People are done with the switch,” she said Tuesday.
And moving to Pacific Standard Time does not need the approval of Congress, said Thatcher who has bipartisan support including co-sponsors Sens. Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland; Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego; Deb Patterson, D-Salem; and David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford; and Rep. Jami Cate, R-Lebanon.