April 08, 2005
Friday

Juneau, Alaska - A bipartisan bill to exempt Alaska from Daylight Saving Time passed the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee Thursday.  The bill, sponsored by Rep. Woodie Salmon, (D-Beaver) is co-sponsored by Reps. Vic Kohring (R-Wasilla),  Eric Croft (D-Anchorage) and Max Gruenberg (D-Anchorage).

"I introduced this legislation because daylight saving time is a frustrating and pointless disturbance of Alaskans' lives," said Representative Woodie Salmon.  "It's disruptive to our sleep cycles and serves no purpose given Alaska's northern latitudes."

Salmon said research has shown that there is an objectively verifiable disruption to humans' circadian rhythms as a result of daylight saving time, and that this disruption hits teens particularly hard.

Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, agrees. "The experiment with daylight savings has been a failure in Alaska, and it's time to take it off the books after 38 years," said Kohring.  "There's no significant benefit to warrant the state continuing this program.  It poses an inconvenience to people who must remember to change their clocks each spring and fall."

 The bill moves to the House State Affairs Committee next. 

E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us

Publish A Letter on SitNews         Read Letters/Opinions
Submit A Letter to the Editor

Sitnews
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska