Daylight Saving Time bill to be debated at State Capitol on Monday

DENVER— One hour may not seem like a long time, but health experts explain the loss of that hour has proven to affect us in more ways than one.

As of 2 a.m. Sunday, we in Colorado observed Daylight Saving Time (DST).

If some state lawmakers had their way, this would be the last time we turned our clocks.

Colorado Rep. Dan Pabon is a sponsor of House Bill 1226. The bill wants to make DST permanent for us in Colorado.

“Let’s keep our clocks on one time. Let’s keep it on Daylight Saving Time and save everyone the hassle of having to adjust every other six months,” Pabon said.

You’ll remember that Colorado lawmakers introduced bills to keep us on Standard Time twice before. Those attempts failed in the State legislature in 2011 and 2013.

Rep. Pabon said it could take a couple of attempts in the Legislature.

Pabon told Denver7, “Turns out that we wanted to be on Daylight Saving Time all year-round. So, this is round two.”

He said the change would ultimately mean more daylight and less energy use across the state.

A study by CU Boulder found the loss of time led to more than 300 deaths over the span of a decade because of wrecks, heart attacks and stress.

Denver7 caught up with business owner Terry Aldridge, who spoke about the issue.

“There’s statistically more accidents. I’m in the construction industry and we’re having a safety meeting Monday morning to look into everyone’s eyes to make sure they’re awake,” said Aldridge.

Efforts focused on killing DST are nearly as old as the practice itself. Still, lawmakers in several states, including Colorado, are trying to get it repealed.

“To set the sunrise and sunset properly to maximize our daylight, we want to change to Daylight Saving Time all year-round,” said Pabon.

The full text of HB-1226 can be found here.