By Emma Epperly

Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

OLYMPIA — Legislation to make daylight saving time the year-round standard passed the Senate on Tuesday evening in a bipartisan 46-2 vote.

The bill would put Washington on Pacific Daylight Time year-round, pending approval of Congress.

Sens. Liz Lovelette (D-Anacortes) and Tim Sheldon (D-Potlatch) voted in opposition. Sen. John McCoy (D-Tulalip) was excused.

House Bill 1196 was introduced by Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, and has gained traction over the course of the session, passing the House on March 9 in an 89-7 vote.

The version that passed the Senate clarifies that Washington would simply not change the clocks in November after approval is given by Congress.

Sen. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia) cited California and Oregon, who are pursuing the move to year-round daylight saving time and said leaders in British Columbia are supportive of considering a similar change there. Hunt hopes to avoid “gyrating time zones” with this move.

Sen. Jim Honeyford (R-Sunnyside) has proposed forms of this legislation over the past three years and supported the bill as a whole.

Sen. Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah) put forward an amendment to send this measure to a vote of the people. The amendment failed mainly because of the costs that are associated with sending a referendum out for a vote. The Senate version will head back to the House for approval before going to Gov. Jay Inslee to be signed in to law.

HB 1196: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1196&Year=2019&Initiative=false