Twice-a-year clock switching could tick closer to end under three Nebraska proposals
Nebraskans tired of switching their clocks twice each year, in March and November, could have three legislative proposals to choose from this year to inch toward ending the practice.
State Senators Megan Hunt of Omaha, Dave Murman of Glenvil and Danielle Conrad of Lincoln have introduced, or plan to introduce, proposals to help end the time switch, which the senators said they, like many Nebraskans, are generally over with.
“I don’t care which way we set the clocks,” Hunt said in a text. “I just support stopping the madness of changing the time twice a year.”
Three different proposals
Hunt’s Legislative Bill 34 would provide for year-round daylight saving time, maintaining the period between March and November to preserve sunlight later in the day — between the second Sunday in March (“spring ahead”) and the first Sunday in November (“fall back”).
Murman’s LB 302 would provide for year-round standard time, the current position of the clocks in the colder fall and winter months when the sun rises earlier.
Both bills would not go into effect until other surrounding states adopt similar laws:
For Hunt’s bill, three adjacent states to Nebraska would need to adopt a single year-round standard of time.For Murman’s bill, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming would all need to adopt legislation for year-round standard time.
Federal law currently prohibits year-round daylight saving time but does allow year-round standard time, which Hawaii and Arizona (excluding the Navajo Nation) observe.
The bills are up for a hearing before the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Conrad’s yet-to-be-introduced legislative resolution would more broadly urge Nebraska’s congressional representatives to push for a uniform decision and end the “antiquated” clock changes. It echoes calls from President Donald Trump and bipartisan U.S. senators to find a permanent solution, according to draft language shared with the Nebraska Examiner.
Time zones and Colorado
State Senator Teresa Ibach of Sumner proposed LR 276 in 2024 examining Nebraska’s time zone boundary in western Nebraska and urging Congress to move the line a little west, matching where Nebraska’s panhandle begins. It would affect the counties of Dundy, Chase and Perkins in Ibach’s district, as well as Keith, Arthur, Grant, Hooker and the western part of Cherry.
She said lawmakers should be deliberate in deciding what to do with the clock switching because of the extra state approval needed.
Ibach suggested bringing Colorado into the conversation would be helpful, particularly for the three Mountain Time Zone counties in her district that “sandwich” between Colorado and other Nebraska counties in the Central Time Zone.
If Colorado sticks with the clocks as is, year-round standard time would create a “southwest Nebraska time-zone island,” between March and November, for Perkins, Chase and Dundy Counties, as reported by the North Platte Telegraph and Scottsbluff Star-Herald. Those residents would be surrounded in the west by a different version of the Mountain Time Zone and in the east by Nebraska’s Central Time Zone.
“I think we need to dissect it just a little bit further and find out the repercussions of actually passing legislation or investigating if we can pass that legislation,” Ibach said.
Ibach said it’s possible that any of the proposals could restart conversations on moving the time zone a few miles west, while she understands arguments from some local residents opposed because that system is all they’ve ever known.
Moving the time zone would also require the blessing of at least South Dakota and Kansas.
‘Good enough for God’
Hunt said she is a night owl and likes it sunny later in the evening, but she’s cosigning Murman’s bill to end the practice either way. Conrad has added her name to both measures and led a defeated effort in 2024 on behalf of former State Senator Tom Briese of Albion, now the state treasurer.
Murman said he prefers standard time because of purported health benefits, aligning with more sun in the morning when people are starting their day, including students.
Former State Senator Steve Erdman of Bayard was an ardent proponent of year-round standard time, particularly for the effect on his Mountain Time residents and students.
Erdman famously stated in March 2022: “The sun comes up at an appointed time every day irregardless of what we say the time is. … When God created time, he put the sun right in the middle of the sky at noon. And if it’s good enough for God, it’s good enough for me.”
Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Aaron Sanderford for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com.
