Entire state of Florida could be changing to Eastern time zone
PENSACOLA, Fla. (WEAR) - Lawmakers are pushing forward to move all of Florida to the Eastern time zone.
An amendment to state bill SB 858 seeks year-round observance of daylight saving time as well as a redesignation of the 16 portions of Florida that currently lie within the Central Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone.
The Senate Committee on Community Affairs voted "yes" on SB 858 with the adopted amendment on Tuesday.
If lawmakers and the governor come to an agreement, Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation will have to approve the time change.
If you'd like to contact your representative about this legislation, you can do so by clicking HERE.
You can also view SB 858 below:
In the last few days, committees in Congress also approved legislation to move the state to daylight saving time all year round.
A separate House bill, HB 1013, is pushing for a year-round daylight saving time for the state of Florida. The bill does not provide the time zone switch for parts of the Panhandle that currently observe Central time.
The latest approval came Wednesday morning when committee members were told the time change would be good for the tourism industry.
Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, R-Ft. Myers, had this to say at the committee meeting Wednesday:
Committee members, this is the first great step to putting more sunshine in our lives in Florida. We are the Sunshine State. I think it's going to improve the health and wellness across the board. If you think it about it a moment, how many times have you gotten home from work in the wintertime and you would [love] to go throw the football, maybe drop a line in, or go out to dinner with your spouse? This will give people more quality time, the time when it's nicest in Florida.
You can view HB 1013 below:
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