If Rep. Dan Flynn gets his way, Texas will be on Central Standard Time year-round. With his HB 150, the Republican is trying to terminate Daylight Saving Time effective Sept. 1, the Houston Chronicle reports. The bill will be debated this morning by the Texas Government Transparency and Operation Committee; should it ultimately pass, Texas would join Arizona and Hawaii in opting out of the time shift. The Daily Texan recounts Flynn's inspiration: "It was … last year when we did the fall back, and I'm sitting there changing all of the clocks in my house and in my cars, and I'm … thinking, 'Why in the world do we do this?'" Among those who would benefit from DST's death: "Mothers who do not want to put their kids on the bus stop when it is dark and put them to bed when it is light," Flynn notes on his website.
It's not the first time the Lone Star State has tried to break from the clock finagling. Rep. William Smith unsuccessfully tried in 1967 to get his state out of DST and instead adhere to "Texas Exceptional Time," per the Texas Monthly. The DOT cites practical reasons for observing DST, including conserving energy, preventing traffic injuries, and reducing crime. But critics from Rachel Feltman of the Dallas Morning News to comedian John Oliver say the benefits are minimal or misleading, and Flynn says his constituents aren't happy about complying. "It seems that every time we have to change the time, we get lots of complaints in our office," Flynn told WFAA in November upon filing the bill. DST was actually established under a Texan—Lyndon B. Johnson—in 1966, and a second Texan, George W. Bush, altered its dates in 2005. (More daylight saving time stories.)
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