Time zone change gains initial House OK
File Photo / James McCarthy
Portland's historic Time & Temperature building.
Maine lawmakers are looking at a proposal to adopt year-round the Atlantic Time Zone that's used by Nova Scotia and portions of Canada.
Preliminary votes in Maine's House of Representatives advanced LD 203, a bill proposed by Rep. Donna Bailey, D-Saco, that would eliminate the yearly changes in Daylight Saving Time, which occurred this year on March 12, but only if New Hampshire and Massachusetts also make the change.
"As you know, the effect of my bill, if passed, would be that Maine would remain on what is currently Daylight Saving Time, year-round," Bailey said in written testimony submitted for a March 15 public hearing of the Legislature's Committee on State and Local Government. "As you also know, Maine already observes Daylight Savings Time eight months out of the year, so this bill only extends that out the additional four months of the year."
The Bangor Daily News reported that the House approved a preliminary measure that would put Maine an hour ahead of much of the East Coast for part of the year. The change would mean more daylight on winter afternoons and early evenings.
Atlantic Time Zone is used by a number of Canadian provinces, including New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The bill heads to the state Senate next, the BDN reported.
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