Senate panel votes to move Iowa to permanent daylight saving time – if border states also change

A state Senate committee voted Wednesday to require bordering states to move permanently to daylight saving time before Iowans could stop changing their clocks twice a year.

The move comes after the Iowa House passed a bill last week to move the state permanently to daylight saving time if Congress legalizes the action. The Senate State Government Committee amended House File 2331 Wednesday and moved the bill the Senate floor for debate.

Sen. Jeff Reichman, R-Montrose, said the change addresses concerns that problems might arise if Iowa establishes a time zone different from neighboring states. “This makes sure that every state that borders us also goes to the new time zone and adopts that new daylight savings time as the official time before it goes into enactment and it does give the state of Iowa 10 years to have that happen,” he said.

The Senate included a similar provision when it considered daylight saving time last year. That bill passed a committee but did not reach the Senate floor.

This year, however, Congress may give the process a nudge. The U.S. Senate earlier this week voted in favor of year-around daylight saving time starting in 2023 for all states except those that currently stay on standard time all year. That measure still needs approval from the U.S. House and President Biden.