Oklahoma Lawmakers Consider ‘Locking the Clock’ on Daylight Saving Time

OKLAHOMA CITY —

With daylight saving time just a few weeks away, lawmakers are considering what it would take to end the twice-yearly practice and ask, have we had enough falling back and springing ahead?

This year, the time change will mean that sunrise will go from 7:56 a.m. on Nov. 6 to 6:57 a.m. on Nov. 7 and will switch to sunset at 5:30 p.m. instead of 6:30 p.m.

Susan Donnelly, with The Department of Mental Health, said the time change is arbitrary and causes many issues because our bodies are synced to the rising and setting of the sun and not with what the clocks tell us.

“I think we can all agree that time change — the falling back and then springing forward hurts us,” Donnelly said. “But the question still remains: is it better to have more sunlight in the evenings or is it better to keep our body in sync with the sun?”

Senator Blake Stephens studied the issue Tuesday at the Capitol.

“You see, people are tired of changing their clocks,” Stephens said. “I hear it all the time. ‘I don’t care which way you lock the clocks, just lock ’em!'”

Stephens looked into whether Oklahoma should lock the clocks on daylight saving time, to give us more light in the evening and less in the morning.

Arguments have also been presented to stay on standard time all year. It is easier for states to stay on standard time all year, but if states want to say on daylight saving time year-round, that must be approved by Congress.