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SALT LAKE CITY — A legislative resolution that would have put a nonbinding opinion question to voters on whether Utah should be exempt from daylight saving time — thus avoiding changing clocks twice a year — will not see the light of day after it was killed in committee Tuesday.
HJR2, sponsored by Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, sought to have the question of exempting Utah from daylight saving time put on the ballot in the 2018 general election.
Citing greater incidences of heart attacks, strokes and automobile accidents caused by the stress of adjusting to the time change, Thurston said voters ought to have a chance to weigh in on the issue.
If the Utah Legislature fails to advance it, Thurston added, it sends a clear signal.
"We are saying to the public, 'We don't care what you think. We don't want to know what you think,'" he said.
Nevertheless, the committee voted to kill the resolution on a 4-5 vote, with little comment.
The vote came after opposition by the Utah Farm Bureau and a representative of a golfing alliance, as well as a Scoutmaster who said late summer evening sunlight is critical for their activities.
— Amy Joi O'Donoghue
