x
Breaking News
More () »

Lawmaker wants to exempt Tennessee from Daylight Saving Time

"It's a huge inconvenience, there's no benefit to it," said Rep. Rick Tillis, R-Lewisburg. "So that's the primary reason why."

Every year as we turn our clocks forward and back, we switch between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time.

A Tennessee lawmaker wants to stay on Standard Time all year and be exempt from Daylight Saving.

"It's a huge inconvenience, there's no benefit to it," said Rep. Rick Tillis, R-Lewisburg. "So that's the primary reason why."

According to the Department of Transportation, Standard Time is November to March, and the rest of the year is Daylight Saving. The department oversees time zones in the United States. According to the DOT, Daylight Saving became law in 1966, and its main purpose is to save energy. Hawaii and most of Arizona are the only two states that don't participate.

If Tennessee didn't spring forward like the majority of the country, surrounding states could be in different time zones. For example, East Tennessee could be an hour behind North Carolina, even though they are in the same Eastern Time Zone.

"It could create some issues, so that's one thing that I've discussed and I'm sensitive to," Tillis said. "That's why I have made a concerted effort to get the bordering states to get on board with this."

Several states have introduced bills over the years to opt out.

Tillis said a bill like his was introduced in Tennessee in 2015, but it never made it to the floor.

"So that's the difficulty I see here for us," Tillis said. "I'll start making my rounds of talking to other state representatives."

Here is a link to the introduced bill.

Before You Leave, Check This Out