Daylight time proposal to remain in the dark in Legislature

INDIANAPOLIS -- A proposal that sought to move most of Indiana to the Central time zone and have it observe daylight-saving time appears dead this legislative session.\nDemocratic Rep. Chet Dobis of Merrillville said Monday he would not offer his resolution for consideration by the House this week. That all but dooms its chances, since lawmakers are scheduled to end the session by midnight Thursday.\nOver the past three decades, at least two dozen attempts to impose daylight-saving time have failed in the General Assembly.\nDobis said a few weeks ago he wanted the House to vote on a resolution asking the federal government to shift most of Indiana to the Central time zone. He said he believed such a move automatically would mean observance of daylight-saving time.\nBut Dobis said Monday that not enough time remained to get the proposal through both chambers before Thursday. He also said a partisan dispute over a proposed state constitutional ban on gay marriage is another obstacle that would be hard to overcome.\nThe dispute kept the House in virtual gridlock last week, and although the chamber conducted some business Monday, it did not involve substantive decisions on legislation.\n"With all the consternation in this chamber, I think it's better that we wait on this until things are more collegial," Dobis said.\nA few weeks ago, Dobis said he sensed a lot of momentum behind the resolution and believed it would pass the House.\nBut House Speaker Patrick Bauer strongly suggested that such a vote might not happen because lawmakers already had a lot on their plate. He said he was surprised the divisive issue had arisen.\n"I don't see advantages or disadvantages, and I think that's the problem," Bauer said. "Some people are so convinced that a time change is going to bring in jobs and things like that, and other people believe time change will ruin their life."\nLawmakers say their constituents are almost evenly divided over the issue.\nCurrently, 82 counties in Indiana are in the Eastern time zone, but 77 do not observe daylight-saving time. Five counties in southeastern Indiana are in the Eastern time zone and do observe daylight time. Five counties in the northwest corner and five in the southwestern corner are in the Central time zone and observe daylight time.\nDobis' resolution would have asked the U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates time zones, to move all but five counties in southeastern Indiana to Central Time.