Rep. Buddy Carter, who has introduced legislation to keep daylight saving time as a year-round standard, said Saturday on Newsmax that making daylight hours last longer will benefit Americans physically, mentally, and economically.
The bill, which the Georgia Republican has named the Daylight All Year Leads to Ideal Gains in Happiness and Temperament Act, or the DAYLIGHT Act, for short, comes as Americans prepare to turn their clocks ahead overnight and are calling for an end to the confusing time shifts.
"You have to look at the benefits to people's health," said Carter, a pharmacist. "It decreases accidents. It decreases heart attacks. It decreases depression. It increases physical activity, which you know, addresses obesity in our country."
There are also economic benefits to keeping daylight saving time in place all year long, said Carter.
"Our economy has a bump of 2% to 4% whenever we go to daylight saving time," he said. "People are more productive … people don't want to have to change their clocks."
The Senate passed a bipartisan Sunshine Act a few years ago, but it died in the House, but Carter said he thinks this time around, legislation could pass both chambers.
"The public is demanding it, and if there's one thing we need to do a better job of in Congress, that is following public opinion on bills like these where you know, we tend to ignore what people think," said Carter. "I mean, we talk a lot about how we can decrease obesity in this country. This is one of the ways that we can do it in a direct way, and certainly this is a good way."
The federal government does have the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which allows states to choose if they want to participate in daylight saving time, but Carter said it would be better to have a uniform, federal law.
"I believe in state sovereignty," he said. "I served in the state legislature for 10 years. I have a healthy respect for that. But at the same time, this is one of those rare incidences I would say where I think federal legislation would be more beneficial to everyone concerned."
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