With March right around the corner, this only means one thing: the day that every sleepy person dreads, moving the clocks forward an hour. Daylight Saving Time (DST) will begin at 2:00 a.m local time on Sunday, March 10, meaning everyone will lose an hour of sleep and then wonder, how could anyone make such a pesky occurrence mandatory?

   Californians, in fact, rallied together to vote in favor of Proposition 7, a measure which appeared on the November 6, 2018 ballot in California’s general election and would have permitted California’s State Legislature to “change DST (such as by remaining on DST year-round), as long as the change is allowed under federal law,” according to California’s Legislative Analyst Office website (lao.ca.gov). However, even though the majority of people voted in favor of this law, nothing resulted from it.  Yearly, every Californian has to change their clocks on the second Sunday of March, and the first Sunday of November. California’s Legislature is meant to represent the people of California – if the majority wishes to establish permanent Daylight Savings Time, then the State Assembly and the State Senate should listen to the citizens of their state and put it in place, finally putting this confusion to an end.

   Permanent Daylight Savings time refers to the elimination of semi-annual clock changes, according to Time Magazine. Daylight saving time first appeared during World War I, when several countries implemented the time change in order to conserve energy. Germany was the first country to implement DST, and the U.S. followed in March of 1918, a year after joining the war. In the U.S., DST became permanent in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act, with Hawaii and Arizona being the only two states to opt out of the act’s provisions (time.com).

   Californians are torn over the proposal, and recognize both the personal pros and cons of DST. As mentioned earlier, Proposition 7, which would have allowed California legislature to change DST to permanent DST if the change would be allowed under federal law, received a majority vote in favor. According to the California Secretary of State website, 7,167,315 voted in favor, while 4,828,564 voted against the proposition, breaking down to 59.7 percent to 40.3 percent vote in favor of the proposition (elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov).  Junior Pria Kussat said, “On one hand, I think we should continue switching our clocks for daylight saving time because it is going to get dark faster outside in the winter, and I’d rather have more light. On the other hand, however, I don’t like waking up earlier when we change our clocks in March, and I believe waking up early causes damage to my health. So that is one con to daylight saving time.”

   There were a few issues with Proposition 7 that prevented it from being enacted. For one, the Proposition required state legislative approval to pass, and a two-thirds vote at that. The second complication was that the Uniform Time Act of 1966 only allows states to, “choose to opt out of daylight saving time, but…[not] permanently observe DST,” according to Spectrum News 1. This meant that the proposition also had to be petitioned to Congress. Unfortunately, the proposition passed the California State Assembly, but ultimately died at the Senate’s Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee when the proposition was not brought up for a vote. Then, California State Representative Kansen Chu, the author of Proposition 7, left office and the proposition was not brought up again (spectrumnews1.com).

   AP Government Teacher Michele Fournier explained the process of voting on a proposition in California. “In the State of California, we have a process called the Initiative Petition. In order to put any proposition on the ballot in the state of California, you need a certain number of signatures…. After obtaining the signatures, you have to verify if all of the people who signed the petition are registered voters in the state of California. If you get a set number of signatures, that allows your proposition to make it on to the ballot, and then the people of California can vote as to whether or not they want to see that change happen in the state,” said Fournier.

   Daylight Saving Time has been a subject of debate for the past century. With all of the attempts made throughout the nation and specifically in California to end the ritual of bi-annual clock changes, the lack of change has been disappointing. In California, there has been clear support of permanent DST from voters, yet their support has not been matched by action. The California State Legislature should listen to their voters, and begin to badger the Senate to reconsider their previous proposition in order to receive a proper vote. With bills and propositions continuing to be ignored, the turning of the clocks twice a year will continue for Californians.