Colorado House committee kills daylight saving time bill

DENVER – Coloradans will have to keep changing their clocks twice a year.

The House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee on Monday voted 8-5 against House Bill 1226, which would have made daylight saving time permanent in the state. The committee members voted to postpone the issue indefinitely.

Many committee members sided with the ski industry, which had opposed the bill over safety concerns due to certain checks that take place every day, and possible tourism confusion in voting down the bill.

Daylight saving time started at 2 a.m. Sunday.

A study by CU Boulder found that the loss of an hour of sleep due to the time change led to more than 300 deaths over the span of a decade due to increased incidence of car crashes, heart attacks and stress.

Lawmakers have tried twice before to end daylight saving time in Colorado. Those efforts, in 2011 and 2013, also failed.