4 ms·

> A bill signed by Governor Charlie Baker in August included a provision establishing a task force to study if Massachusetts should leave Eastern Standard Time

by x1798DE 10y ago

> A bill signed by Governor Charlie Baker in August included a provision establishing a task force to study if Massachusetts should leave Eastern Standard Time behind. The commission would analyze putting the state on Atlantic Standard Time throughout the year, rather than springing forward every March and falling back every November. I don't understand how the statement you quoted works with the statement I quoted. Is the task force to analyze the impact of doing something that the state isn't even allowed to do?

dragonwriter 10y ago
States can't go on permanent daylight savings, but they can go on permanent standard time and they can choose which zone they are in. The effect of permanent standard time one zone east is the same as that of permanent daylight time in the original zone.
madcaptenor 10y ago
What I don't get about this idea is that it would put Massachusetts in a very strange place - if you left the state in any direction in the winter you'd drop back an hour. Is the idea that Massachusetts is powerful enough in New England that the rest of the New England states would go along? (Just under half the population of New England lives in Massachusetts, so this isn't entirely far-fetched.) I can't imagine all of Connecticut would go along, though. It wouldn't surprise me if eastern CT went with Boston time while western CT went with New York time, following roughly the Red Sox - Yankees border.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  I've seen reports of other states on the Eastern Seaboard considering the same thing (I remember Maine specifically, but I think there were more.)
  - madcaptenor 10y ago
    This article reports on a New Hampshire proposal: whttp://www.concordmonitor.com/time-zone-Atlantic-bill-7545169 http://www.concordmonitor.com/time-zone-Atlantic-bill-754516... And this one on a Rhode Island proposal: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/11/will-new-england-secede-from-eastern-standard-time/4T9tNuLYXX3rz3SKWMpkZI/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/11/will-new-englan... Both explicitly require Massachusetts to go first. Maine has been considering it for longer (which makes sense, as it's further east), since 2005, according to this story: https://bangordailynews.com/2017/01/19/politics/state-house/maine-lawmakers-take-another-stab-at-changing-states-time-zone/?ref=topStories3Thumb https://bangordailynews.com/2017/01/19/politics/state-house/... . The proposals there don't seem to be contingent on Massachusetts making the first move. I couldn't find any references to proposals in Vermont or Connecticut.

by x1798DE 10y ago

dragonwriter 10y ago

States can't go on permanent daylight savings, but they can go on permanent standard time and they can choose which zone they are in. The effect of permanent standard time one zone east is the same as that of permanent daylight time in the original zone.

madcaptenor 10y ago

What I don't get about this idea is that it would put Massachusetts in a very strange place - if you left the state in any direction in the winter you'd drop back an hour. Is the idea that Massachusetts is powerful enough in New England that the rest of the New England states would go along? (Just under half the population of New England lives in Massachusetts, so this isn't entirely far-fetched.) I can't imagine all of Connecticut would go along, though. It wouldn't surprise me if eastern CT went with Boston time while western CT went with New York time, following roughly the Red Sox - Yankees border.

dragonwriter 10y ago
I've seen reports of other states on the Eastern Seaboard considering the same thing (I remember Maine specifically, but I think there were more.)
- madcaptenor 10y ago
  This article reports on a New Hampshire proposal: whttp://www.concordmonitor.com/time-zone-Atlantic-bill-7545169 http://www.concordmonitor.com/time-zone-Atlantic-bill-754516... And this one on a Rhode Island proposal: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/11/will-new-england-secede-from-eastern-standard-time/4T9tNuLYXX3rz3SKWMpkZI/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/11/will-new-englan... Both explicitly require Massachusetts to go first. Maine has been considering it for longer (which makes sense, as it's further east), since 2005, according to this story: https://bangordailynews.com/2017/01/19/politics/state-house/maine-lawmakers-take-another-stab-at-changing-states-time-zone/?ref=topStories3Thumb https://bangordailynews.com/2017/01/19/politics/state-house/... . The proposals there don't seem to be contingent on Massachusetts making the first move. I couldn't find any references to proposals in Vermont or Connecticut.