In 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote a satirical essay in which he suggested that by waking up at dawn — which would maximize daylight hours — Parisians could save on the costs of candle use. Then in 1916, Germany became the first country to enact daylight saving time in an effort to conserve electricity in World War I.
Thirty-three years after Germany, California implemented daylight saving time through the Daylight Saving Time Act, which argued that the time change would benefit the economy and safety of the state’s citizens.
Now, State Assemblyman Kansen Chu (D-San Jose) is aiming to take California off daylight savings time. Chu introduced Assembly Bill 807, a bill that would repeal the Daylight Saving Time act if passed, on Feb. 15.
The bill will be reviewed by legislative committees in the next month.
This marks the second time that Chu tried to get rid of daylight saving time in the state. Last year, Chu introduced a bill that was similar to AB807, but the bill died in the state senate by four votes, which would have allowed the bill to advance.
Chu told Mercury News he got the idea for changing the 70-year tradition from a family with young children who battled to get their kids to sleep an hour earlier each night.
“There are a lot of people asking me, ‘Why do you want to do it?’” Chu said. “I’m always trying to understand, why not? Why don’t we revisit this practice and see if there’s any benefit?”
