During Beef Day at the Capitol, Farm Director KC Sheperd caught up with a member of the Oklahoma Senate, Blake Stephens, about his Daylight Savings Time Bill (Senate Bill 1200).
Senate Bill 1200 provides that Oklahoma shall adopt permanent Daylight-Saving Time (DST) upon passage of a federal law authorizing states to choose whether or not to participate in the antiquated practice of bi-annual time change.
After four years of working on this legislation, Stephens said he is excited to see it pass the House of Representatives.
“Finally, we got this thing moving in a positive direction, and it is all about a matter of time,” Stephens said. “I was honored to have the Speaker of the House running the bill with me on Senate Bill 1200. I am very honored and blessed that the Governor signed that bill after we got through both chambers.”
Stephens said Oklahoma is the 20th state to pass legislation to “lock the clock” and keep an hour of daylight in the evening during the wintertime.
From health to crime reduction, Stephens said an extra hour of sunlight in the winter yields numerous benefits.
“What has to happen now is the Sunshine Protection Act has to be passed by Congress to allow us to lock that clock on Daylight Savings Time,” Stephens said.
There is strength in numbers, Stephens said, and as more states adopt permanent Daylight Savings Time, he predicts it will become more popular across the United States. Stephens said if the bill passes, there will be 127 days in the wintertime with one more hour of sunlight- the rest of the year will stay the same.
“We won’t quit working on it until it is across the finish line once and for all,” Stephens said.
