Abolish Daylight Savings Time in New Hampshire

This bill, designated HB 1149, proposes that New Hampshire end the practice of switching clocks twice a year by permanently adopting Atlantic Standard Time, which is equivalent to year-round Eastern Daylight Time. Implementation is contingent on Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine also passing similar legislation, ensuring that the entire New England region moves together to avoid a patchwork of time zones. The bill’s sponsors argue that the biannual time change disrupts sleep patterns, increases traffic accidents in the days following the transition, and has been linked in medical research to a measurable spike in heart attacks during the spring shift. Under the proposal, New Hampshire would effectively move from the Eastern Time Zone to the Atlantic Time Zone, resulting in sunrise and sunset times that are one hour later than current standard time during winter months. Supporters, including several New Hampshire business groups and tourism industry representatives, contend that the additional evening daylight during winter months would benefit the state’s ski industry and extend the usable hours for outdoor recreation. Opponents have raised concerns that later sunrises during December and January would mean children waiting for school buses in darkness until nearly 8:30 a.m. in the state’s northern communities, creating safety risks. The bill has cleared the New Hampshire House on multiple occasions in prior legislative sessions but has stalled in the Senate, in part because the contingency clause makes enactment dependent on neighboring states’ legislative calendars. Massachusetts has advanced similar legislation through its state legislature, and Maine voters approved a referendum supporting year-round daylight time, but neither state has fully enacted the change pending regional coordination. Federal law under the Uniform Time Act of 1966 currently permits states to opt out of daylight saving time and remain on standard time permanently, as Arizona and Hawaii have done, but does not permit states to adopt permanent daylight time without congressional approval. The Atlantic Standard Time approach in HB 1149 is designed to achieve the same practical effect as permanent daylight time while potentially avoiding the need for a congressional waiver, though legal scholars have debated whether this interpretation would withstand challenge. If all five New England states were to enact coordinated legislation, the region would share a time zone with the Canadian Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The bill is scheduled for committee hearings in the current legislative session, with a floor vote expected by mid-2026.