Another State Moves to Eliminate Seasonal Time Changes

More than a dozen states have considered bills this year that would do away with seasonal time changes in favor of one permanent time. Only two states currently stick to a single time—Hawaii and Arizona—but lawmakers from across the country want to join them. The Illinois Senate this week overwhelmingly passed a bill that would have the state observe daylight saving time permanently starting in March 2020, when most other states will “spring forward” by an hour. Supporters of the bill point to a recent poll that showed a majority of Americans, and 55% of Midwesterners, want to put an end to falling back and springing forward. Proponents also note that falling back in autumn is associated with many unintended consequences, including more fatal car crashes, increased electrical costs at night, and more heart attacks as people change their sleeping and waking schedule. State Rep. Allen Skillicorn, a Republican, is part of a bipartisan effort to eliminate time changes in Illinois. "Sleep is an important part of our overall health and there seems to be growing evidence that moving our clocks back in the Fall and forward in the Spring disrupts our sleep patterns. Additionally, losing daylight in the afternoon can have adverse effects on mental health. There is no question that changing our clocks twice per year messes with our daily routines and just when we get used to the time change—it is time to change our clocks again,” he said. But State Sen. Andy Manar, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, acknowledged that the state measure won’t do much unless there is federal action. “The only two ways that it can change in Illinois, ultimately, even with this bill becoming law, is either Congress gives us an exemption as a state or Congress implements a uniform standard presumably different than what we have nationwide,” he said. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 allows states to make standard time permanent without federal approval (which is what Arizona and Hawaii did), but does not allow them to make daylight saving time permanent without an exemption. Several states, including Florida last year, have passed measures to move to daylight saving year round, but need Congress to sign off. State Sen. Linda Holmes, a Democrat who voted against the bill, said that the bill should be flipped. “If we’re going to not change them, what we need to do is go to our standard time and not daylight saving time,” she said. [Illinois Policy; Patch; The Center Square; Illinois Public Media]

GUN MAGAZINE SALES | Colorado passed a law in 2013 banning the sale and transfer of high capacity gun magazines that hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition. A recent investigation by local news station KUSA, however, showed that many gun stores in the state are still selling these magazines through a loophole. Jeff Lepp, the owner of a gun store in El Paso County, said that the store sells kits that allow customers to piece together a high capacity magazine, which is still legal, “I don’t feel that I’m doing anything wrong. [The magazine ban] is a very foolish thing,” he said. State Sen. Rhonda Fields, a Democrat who originally sponsored the bill to ban the magazines, said she was shocked to know this was happening. "I'm a little stunned by how open it is and how blatantly they're saying, 'You know, this is a stupid law, but this is the way you can get around it,'" Fields said. Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown said that the legislature needs to revisit the law. "If this is what the intent of the law was and we know that this loophole exists now, it's time for the legislature to go back and reword it or work through whatever process they need to, to either close that or re-address something else here in Colorado," he said. [KUSA]

MOLD | Excessive mold in the Jefferson County Election Commission Office in Arkansas is putting 150 voting machines at risk. The mold recorded was 84 times the acceptable level of particles per cubic foot. Commissioner Stuart Soffer said the issue is also prompting health concerns among state employees. "The bottom line is that we cannot continue using this building. We have a liability and if you knowingly expose people to this stuff, you're setting yourself up,” he said. The company that measured mold levels in the office recommended a $1,500 dehumidifier to solve the problem, but not all commissioners approve of the solution. Commissioner Ted Davis said that the whole commission should have been consulted before air-quality technicians were called in. "To take a company's materials … as opposed to indicating specifically that bids have to be gathered to do this work, I think that's one of the things we have to look at," Davis said. Moisture has been a consistent problem for the office, which also saw 300 voting machines decertified recently because of corrosion on the motherboards caused by high moisture levels. [Arkansas Democrat Gazette; Associated Press]

LEADERSHIP DIVERSITY | The Massachusetts legislature is woefully lacking in diversity, according to a new report from MassINC, an independent think tank, and Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. Of the 76 state representatives and senators who hold leadership or committee chair positions, only four are people of color. Less than one-third of state legislative seats are held by women. Ben Forman, MassINC’s research director, said that the composition of the state legislature doesn’t reflect the state’s population. “If we’re leaving talent out of it because they don’t feel like there’s a place for them, people of color especially, we don’t have all the leaders we need to solve the problems we face,” Forman said. Peter Levine, the associate dean of academic affairs at Tufts, said that the lack of leadership diversity is troubling because power is “strongly concentrated” in the top. “Very few rank-and-file House members are really involved in legislating. It’s too much power for a small group who are not representative,” he said. [MassLive; WBUR]

STOLEN GUNS | The City Council of Richmond, Virginia unanimously passed an ordinance requiring anyone whose gun is stolen or lost to report the incident to the police within 24 hours. The measure is meant to prevent gun trafficking and was introduced by Mayor Levar Stoney. “This reporting requirement isn’t a fix-all, but this additional level of accountability and responsibility will go far toward protecting our community and providing police with another tool to keep our communities safe. I urge members of the General Assembly … to not just codify this simple change into state law but to embrace the opportunity before them—the opportunity to meaningfully address gun violence in our Commonwealth,” he said. [RVA Hub; WWBT]