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Conforms California Daylight Saving Time to federal law. Allows legislature to change Daylight Saving Time period. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: California Secretary of State[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Proposition 7 ("Prop 7") was a California ballot proposition in that state's general election on November 6, 2018.[2] The measure passed, by a vote of about 60% Yes to 40% No.[3]
The proposition permits the California State Legislature to change the times and dates of daylight saving time period by a two-thirds vote, all while in compliance with federal law. For the state to have such powers, Proposition 12 (1949), which established daylight saving time in California, needed to be repealed, which can only be done by the electorate.
Following passage of Proposition 7, California Assemblymember Kansen Chu submitted Assembly Bill 7 in 2019 to "eliminate the biannual clock change in California and set the state on daylight saving time year-round, pending federal authorization."[4] The bill died in committee in 2020.[5]
The California Secretary of State's summary from the Official Voter Information Guide of Proposition 7 is as follows:[6]
"CONFORMS CALIFORNIA DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME TO FEDERAL LAW. ALLOWS LEGISLATURE TO CHANGE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERIOD. LEGISLATIVE STATUTE. Gives Legislature ability to change daylight saving time period by two-thirds vote, if changes are consistent with federal law. Fiscal Impact: This measure has no direct fiscal effect because changes to daylight saving time would depend on future actions by the Legislature and potentially the federal government.
The results of the vote were 59.75% YES to 40.25% NO.
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Yes
|
7,167,315 | 59.75 |
| No | 4,828,564 | 40.25 |
| Valid votes | 11,995,879 | 100 |
| Total votes | 11,995,879 | 100.00 |
Despite passing with almost 60% of the vote, the proposition only allows the legislature to change the times and dates of daylight saving time period by a two-thirds vote of both chambers, while remaining in compliance with federal law (which permits permanent standard time).
In November 2019, Chu issued a news release promising to continue his efforts to urge passage of legislation in Washington, DC. "I share the disappointment with other Californians that we will be switching our clocks once again this November after passing Proposition 7... Unfortunately, the California State Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications did not bring AB 7 up for a vote and the bill died. While I will not be coming back as a State Assemblymember next year, I will continue my advocacy at the state and federal level to uphold Californians' will to get rid of our outdated practice of switching the clock back and forth twice a year. I urge everyone who voted for Prop 7 to reach out to your state and federal representatives and ask them to continue my effort in the upcoming legislative session."[5]
In 2020, Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, who was a co-author of both Prop 7 and AB 7, expressed interest in a new bill. She has noted that medical consensus supports permanent standard time and opposes permanent daylight saving time, and that federal law makes permanent standard time the quicker path to ending clock change. But she has questioned whether a super majority of the legislature can agree.[10][11]
AB 7, which will eliminate the biannual clock change in California and set the state on Daylight Saving Time year-round, pending federal authorization.
Overwhelmingly it passed on the ballot. Overwhelmingly you have people saying they don't want time change. But because there's two options, it's really hard to get a two-thirds vote for one of the options. And we were really straightforward when we ran the initiative that we weren't putting our thumb on the scale of either Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time. But everybody heard what they wanted to hear. So, people who like Daylight Saving Time thought, 'Yes, Daylight Saving Time year-round,' and people who don't like time change thought Standard Time year-round. Now we're in a little bit of a pickle.
Gonzalez co-authored the measure voters approved back in 2018. "We have experts, medical professionals who say we need to go to standard time year-round," … we have to get it through with two-thirds of a vote so we haven't been able to get legislators to agree on one or the other." … "The only thing we could do immediately to change it is by two-thirds vote decide to go to standard time year-round, although I haven't seen that we have the votes to do that," Gonzalez told FOX40.
