ATLANTA — Georgia could soon have something in common with Nova Scotia – the same time zone.
Five years ago, the General Assembly passed a bill to do just that. Even though Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law, it still needed to be approved by Congress. That brings us to today.
The new bill, to be named the Georgia Sunshine Protection Act, “should pursue lawful means to secure permanent daylight-saving time while maintaining alignment with national economic and transportation systems.”
To do that, the bill would ask the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to place Georgia in Atlantic standard time, “and shall be exempt from the advancement of clocks by one hour during designated periods, commonly known as daylight saving time.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- Long lines out the door at Atlanta airport, ICE agents arrive to assist TSA
- 74-year-old crossing guard hit outside metro elementary school
- Apartment building destroyed in Union City fire; gas line also ruptured
On Monday, Channel 2’s Richard Elliot spoke with the bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Bo Hatchett, R- Cornelia.
“I’ve gotten a lot of support, I think overwhelmingly, Georgia is tired of changing our clocks, and there is a split debate as to whether we should be on daylight time or standard time. But this legislature took a position a couple of years ago that if and when Congress approves Daylight Saving Time for states, we would move, and so this just gets us there faster,” Hatchett said.
When it was passed five years ago, the bill had bipartisan support.
So, what is Atlantic Standard Time? The time zone shares a border with the Eastern Time Zone but is not impacted by daylight saving.
The time zone includes four provinces from Canada, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.
Currently, there are only two other states that do not observe Daylight Saving. Those states are Hawaii and Arizona.