Legislature to vote on daylight-saving bill

INDIANAPOLIS -- If a resurrected bill to mandate statewide daylight-saving time in Indiana becomes law this session, most Hoosiers would still spend more time lagging behind most of the nation in changing clocks.\nDaylight-saving time takes effect at 2 a.m. this Sunday, meaning people in 47 states that observe it will move their clocks ahead by one hour.\nBut even though a daylight-time bill in Indiana has been revived, and top lawmakers say its prospects for passage seem better than ever after decades of failure, it would not become law by this Sunday. The new bill would set the clock change for 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 5.\nA daylight-time bill died nearly four weeks ago when it failed to receive a vote in the full House before a key procedural deadline. It was among about 130 bills that were killed when Democrats boycotted the floor that day over a partisan dispute with Republicans who rule the chamber.\nThat led daylight proponents, including Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, to seek ways to revive the bill.\nThe House Public Policy Committee found a way Wednesday by stripping a localized, speed-limit-increase bill of its provisions and replacing them with the daylight-time proposal.\nThe panel endorsed the new bill on an 8-4 vote and sent it to the full House. It could be eligible for a vote next week, and the bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Jerry Torr of Carmel, said he believes it will pass.\nThe leader of the Republican-led Senate said Wednesday that its prospects looked good in that chamber, too.\nTorr said the June 5 date should give most people and businesses ample time to learn of the time change and make any needed adjustments. The bill calls for the state to start daylight time in April with the rest of the country in future years, but some committee members said they believed Torr's timetable was too quick.\n"I think the speed we are moving on is irresponsible," said Rep. Robert Kuzman, D-Crown Point.\nDaylight-saving time has been a polarizing issue in the General Assembly, in large part because many lawmakers say their constituents are evenly split and very emotional about it. Efforts to pass the clock change have failed at numerous times in the past three decades, and this session marked the first time in 10 years a daylight bill even got to the floor of either chamber.\nBut Daniels has made it a top priority, saying it would eliminate confusion and boost commerce by making Indiana's observance of the time change consistent with the rest of the country and much of the world. Numerous business groups are behind it, and it does not hurt Daniels' cause that both chambers are controlled by fellow Republicans.\nIf the bill is approved by the House, it would be sent to the Senate Rules Committee. Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, said it would receive a full public hearing and likely clear that panel and be sent to the full Senate.\nThe Senate has not voted on daylight-saving time since 1983, when it failed, 46-4. Garton thinks the outcome this time would be different.\n"I think if it passes the House, I think it will pass the Senate," Garton said Wednesday.\nAlthough 77 of the state's 92 counties do not observe daylight time, five counties in the Eastern time zone near Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky., do change their clocks. Five counties in northwestern Indiana and five in the southwestern part of the state that are on Central time also change each October and April.\nSome lawmakers say they could support daylight time if the rest of the state were moved into the Central time zone. But that would require approval of the U.S. Department of Transportation.\nRep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, won approval of an amendment that would urge Daniels to ask the federal government to hold hearings to determine whether Indiana's time zone boundaries should be redrawn.\nCrooks noted that during the campaign, Daniels said he supported daylight-saving time and suggested it would be best if most of the state were moved to Central time. But Crooks said Daniels has since backed away from the time zone issue, and many of his constituents are upset.\n"I have never seen so many people angry at one individual, and that individual is Gov. Mitch Daniels," Crooks said.\nTorr said Daniels and business groups were consulted about an effective date. He said they wanted to make the switch fairly quickly to start reaping the economic benefits of daylight time, but did not want to do it before Memorial Day because it could complicate ticket and scheduling times set for the Indianapolis 500.