CASPER, Wyo. — A day after clocks “sprung forward,” the Wyoming Senate passed House Bill 44 on first reading which would provide a path for Wyoming to eliminate the observance of seasonal time changes.
“It’s about time for this bill,” Senate District 01 Senator Ogden Driskill said.
The Senate amended the bill from the version which passed in the House. The House version required that Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado pass similar legislation before Wyoming would eliminate seasonal time changes.
Instead, the Senate amendment would require three other “western states” to pass similar legislation which could include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota or Utah.
The amendment would also require that the United State Congress enact legislation to authorize states to observe daylight savings time year round.
If the provisions were all met, the bill would go into effect the first Sunday of November.
The House of Representatives passed the bill on third reading on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The vote was 32-27:
Ayes: BARLOW, BLAKE, CLAUSEN, CLEM, CLIFFORD, DAYTON-SELMAN, EDWARDS, EKLUND, FURPHY, GRAY, HALEY, HALLINAN, HUNT, JENNINGS, LAURSEN DAN, LINDHOLM, LOUCKS, MACGUIRE, MILLER, NEWSOME, OBERMUELLER, PIIPARINEN, POWNALL, ROSCOE, SALAZAR, SIMPSON, SOMMERS, STYVAR, TASS, WALTERS, WASHUT, YIN
Nays: BROWN, BURKHART, BURLINGAME, CONNOLLY, CRANK, DUNCAN, EYRE, FLITNER, FREEMAN, GREEAR, HENDERSON, KINNER, HARSHMAN, KIRKBRIDE, LARSEN LLOYD, NICHOLAS, NORTHRUP, OLSEN, PAXTON, PELKEY, SCHWARTZ, STITH, SWEENEY, WESTERN, WILSON, WINTER, ZWONITZER
Excused: BLACKBURN Wyoming Legislative Service Office
Since the Senate amended the bill, the House would need to hold a concurrence vote if the Senate pass the bill on two further readings.
A similar piece of legislation stalled out during the Wyoming Legislature’s 2019 general session. That bill was passed by Wyoming’s House of Representatives but failed on two tie votes in the Senate.
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This article originally appeared on Oil City News. Used with permission.
