Washington bill nudges North Idaho to check the time

Recent passage of a bill in the Washington Legislature presents a conundrum for North Idaho residents, and time is not on our side.

Olympia’s overwhelming 90-6 passage Tuesday of House Bill 1196 would make Daylight Saving Time the state’s permanent reality, meaning Washington residents would no longer set their clocks back in the late fall, instead enjoying a steady, consistent clock. The bill still has work ahead of it: If Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signs the bill into law, Congress still has to give its approval for states to adopt the change — and Congress feels little urgency to decide whether to allow states to permanently adopt the switch.

So keep in mind that for the moment, this is all academic.

Steve Calandrillo, professor of law at the University of Washington and vocal advocate of a year-long Daylight Saving Time, testified in Olympia before their vote. He celebrates the Legislature’s passing of the bill as a victory and believes Congress should act quickly to allow states to convert to a year-round practice.

“I’ve been advocating for permanent Daylight Saving Time for decades,” he said. “Switching clocks is disruptive to sleep patterns. It confuses local economies. And it’s fatal.”

Fatal, he said, because of a 2004 Rutgers University study that concluded morning commuters are less awake than evening commuters, and that an hour of extra sunshine would minimize the risks that come with a full day’s distractions, such as alcohol intake and evening errands. A full year of Daylight Saving Time, the study showed, would save 171 pedestrian lives per year and 195 motorist lives per year, nationwide.

That’s great, you might be wondering, but what does this have to do with North Idaho?

For starters, Idaho legislators note the economic challenges that would come with Washington’s move. If Congress allows Washington to switch to permanent Daylight Saving Time, North Idaho’s citizens would have to follow suit. Otherwise, we could potentially live, work and play an hour behind our economic partner, Spokane.

“Our economies are fairly well-connected,” said Rep. Paul Amador of Coeur d’Alene. “There are plenty of people who cross that border [between Washington and Idaho] to go to work — in both directions. We certainly understand that. Being the farthest north and farthest east on Pacific time, we’re impacted the most by this issue.”

The change could also potentially create a geographic anomaly for travelers. Under a hypothetical doomsday scenario, westbound visitors driving Interstate 90 from Montana would be on Mountain Time, fall back an hour into Pacific Time when they reach Lookout Pass, then spring forward an hour when they pass the Stateline exit and cross into Washington.

It also takes an hour to drive that stretch of freeway. Let chaos reign.

Lawmakers say the chances of that scenario are low.

Sen. Steve Vick of Dalton Gardens proposed Senate Concurrent Resolution 138 last year, which urges the 10 Pacific Zone counties to monitor Washington state’s debate over the time zone adjustments, and that we consider synchronizing our watches with our neighbors to the west. The resolution passed unanimously.

Vick said the clocks on North Idaho’s walls will absolutely keep in time with the clocks on Washington’s.

“In my mind,” Vick said, “there’s no way [the federal government] moves Washington but not North Idaho. If Washington went, we would absolutely go with them.”

Despite the fact SCR 138 was non-binding, the chances of North Idaho falling behind are slim, Calandrillo added.

“That possibility would be very confusing,” Calandrillo told The Press. “This is one of those negative side effects of changing your clock all the time. It’s very reminiscent of 1965.”

Calandrillo’s 1965 reference is the year before Congress enacted the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Before 1966, towns, counties and localities across the country observed Daylight Saving Time at their own leisure. Idaho saw its own share of lawlessness: Around 1936, Shoshone County residents led a quiet insurrection to operate on their own version of Daylight Saving Time, breaking from their Pacific Time union and siding with the south.

The Uniform Time Act, among other things, established what we now universally understand as Daylight Saving Time. In doing so, it intended to “foster and promote widespread and uniform adoption and observance of the same standard of time within and throughout each such standard time zone.”

This is our collective clock’s real safety net. The act requires the federal government to keep time changes as free from disruption as possible. The Department of Transportation, which oversees these transitions, typically implements adoptions and abandonments of Daylight Saving Time on the day of the switch.

Furthermore, these switches are likely to arrive in bulk: Oregon, Delaware and Tennessee legislatures also recently approved either making permanent or ditching the ritual altogether, and last year California voters approved a proposition to adopt Daylight Saving as the year-round norm.

“If the dominos fall into place,” Vick said, “California, Oregon and Washington will all be petitioning for the change at the same time. I think Congress would have to listen to those requests.”

If Congress approves Washington’s move to permeate Daylight Saving Time, expect North Idaho to quickly follow along.

“I think staying in one time year-round is better,” Vick said. “It’s better for our people, it’s better for our economy, and it’s better for your health.”

“I think most people would probably prefer to have another hour of daylight in the evening,” Amador added. “Most people would probably make that trade. This issue isn’t partisan. It’s not partisan or even political. It’s about what’s best for the economy and what people want.”