Tenth amendment: Federalism

Any powers not given to the federal government

By MAGGIE ASTOR MARCH 8, 2018

Few traditions are more maligned than the semiannual switch between standard time and daylight saving
time.

On Sunday, we will moan about the lost hour of sleep when we spring forward. In November, we will
rend our garments about the months of early darkness to come when we fall back. In March and
November alike, we lament the disruption of our circadian rhythms.

Often, these complaints take the form of calls to eliminate daylight saving time altogether. But Florida
wants to move in the opposite direction: permanent daylight saving time.

The Florida Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act on Tuesday, three weeks after the state’s House of
Representatives, and sent it to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature or veto. (Asked on Wednesday whether
Mr. Scott would sign it, and why or why not, his press secretary, Lauren Schenone, said only, “The
governor will review the bill.”) The margins of victory in both chambers were overwhelming — 33 to 2 in
the Senate and 103 to 11 in the House — and the measure has considerable public support.

The problem? Florida doesn’t have the authority to adopt daylight saving time year-round.

The federal government ​controls the nation’s time zones​, as well as the start and end dates of daylight
saving time. States can choose to exempt themselves from daylight saving time — Arizona and Hawaii do
— but nothing in federal law allows them to exempt themselves from standard time.

And so ​the legislation, H.B. 1013​, is written conditionally. “Daylight saving time shall be the year-round
standard time of the entire state and all of its political subdivisions,” it says — ​if​ “the United States
Congress amends 15 U.S.C. s. 260a to authorize states to observe daylight saving time year-round.”

In other words: Even if the governor signs the bill, nothing will happen now. Congress, divided over
tariffs and gun control and immigration, would have to act on clocks — or the Transportation Department
would have to issue a new regulation​, an option the Florida legislation does not mention.

Given that hurdle, it is perhaps not surprising that while other states have discussed making daylight
saving time the permanent law of their lands, none have managed to do it.

In recent years, several states in New England — Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode
Island — have ​created commissions or introduced proposals​ to that end. Staying on daylight saving time
could have particular benefits in New England, which, as the easternmost region of a sprawling time zone,
endures very early winter sunsets. In parts of Maine, for example, between Thanksgiving and Christmas,
the sun sets before 4 p.m. — more than an hour earlier than it does in Detroit, at the other end of the
Eastern time zone.
This can mean more electricity use and more symptoms of seasonal affective disorder — not to mention
less after-work shopping, which takes an economic toll.

But changing time zones could have an economic cost, too, especially in a region like the Northeast,
where millions of people commute across state lines. No one wants their office to be an hour ahead of
their home. Cognizant of that, most of the New England states contemplating a change made it contingent
on their neighbors’ doing the same.

That is less of a problem in Florida, where a vast majority of residents work within the state.

The sponsors of the Florida legislation — State Senator Greg Steube and State Representatives Heather
Fitzenhagen and Jeanette Nuñez, all Republicans — did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday
afternoon. But in interviews with local newspapers on Tuesday, they said they believed year-round
daylight saving time would improve the economy, public safety and mental health.
 Paraphrase of “Year-Round Daylight Saving Time? Florida Says Yes, but It’s Not So Simple”

On March 6th 2018 the Florida state Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act at a vote

of 33-2. The act, if the governor signs it, permanently places Florida on daylight savings time, if

Congress amends 15 U.S.C. s. 260a to allow them to change the time. This is required because

although there is an exception in the federal law for states to opt out of daylight savings time,

there is not one for keeping it, and the federal government controls the time zones. This means

that while Arizona can opt out of daylight savings time, Florida cannot permanently adopt it.

The sponsors of the Sunshine Protection Act believe that permanent daylight savings time

will help the Florida economy, aid public safety, and increase mental health in the state.

Permanent daylight savings time could be bad because some people work across state lines, and

having business be in a different hour than home could cause confusion and hamper the

economy. This argument is likely moot because the bill cannot change the time, as the federal

government controls the time zones. It may be argued that federal control of time zones violates

the tenth amendment, as the Constitution did not give the federal government the right to do so.

However, this could be rebuked with the idea that the federal government must control the time

to help the people.

The Florida Senate passed a bill for permanent daylight savings time, if the federal

government allows. The Florida State Congressmen Greg Steube, Heather Fitzenhagen, and

Jeanette Nuñez sponsored the Sunshine protection act, while federal regulations are prevent its

primary effect. Because time zones are in federal jurisdiction, Florida cannot change their time

without the help of the federal government. This culminated in the question: Should the federal

government be allowed to control the time zones according to the 10th amendment?
 Works Cited

Astor, Maggie. “Year-Round Daylight Saving Time? Florida Says Yes, but It’s Not so Simple.”

New York Times​,

[Link]/2018/03/08/us/[Link]?rref=collection%2Fs

ectioncollection%2Fus. Accessed 13 Mar. 2018.

States and Congress on a Scale. ​MPRnews​, Minnesota Public Radio,

[Link]/story/npr/155861308. Accessed 2012.