NJ Moves Toward Year-Round Daylight Saving Time, If Congress Approves

THE ISSUE: Daylight Saving Time would become permanent in New Jersey, so long as the federal government allows it nationally. No longer would the state’s clocks “fall back” in November, to Eastern Standard Time, and “spring forward” four months later for an extra hour of daylight. The Senate Transportation Committee released the bill after a 15-minute discussion on Nov. 10. New Jersey can’t make the switch on its own, though. Federal legislation must be passed first.

HOW WE GOT HERE: Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, states can opt for standard time alone – Hawaii and Arizona do that – but can’t choose Daylight Saving Time permanently. At least 19 states have enacted legislation to go by Daylight Saving Time, but the most recent federal legislation failed in October.

THE BACK-AND-FORTH: The bill’s sponsors say several studies have shown the biannual change between EST and EDT disrupts commerce and daily schedules, safety and health. 

• An advocate for making standard time permanent told the committee that year-round Daylight Saving Time would have negative physical and mental health impacts, and make morning commutes darker and more dangerous. “As more light enters our eyes, it stimulates production of cortisol. It helps us feel alert, and darkness promotes melatonin and helps us feel asleep,” said Michael Garrahan, secretary for the Arizona-based nonprofit Save Standard Time, which has opposed the Daylight Saving Time movement in several states since 2019. 
• For the Orthodox Jewish community, the bill would have a “detrimental impact,” said Shlomo Schorr, director of legislative affairs for the New Jersey chapter of Agudath Israel. The bill would conflict with religious practices “because the requirements of our morning service, rituals and prayer required by our faith are time-based with some prayers only to be recited after sunrise,” Schorr said. 

WHAT’S NEXT: An identical version of the bill has yet to be heard in the Assembly State and Local Government Committee.