Tennessee Considers Eternal Daylight Savings Time

Tennessee might be done turning its clocks back. The state's House State Government Subcommittee has approved a bill that would end the practice of adjusting the clocks twice a year, effective this summer, effectively giving the state permanent Daylight Savings Time, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. "It will be great for farmers. It will be great for the school kids," said Rep. Curry Todd, the bill's author. "I've talked to many businesses and folks … and I've not got one negative comment about this bill."

"You came up with a wangdanger, I can tell you," said one of two committee members to vote nay, saying he wanted more time to study the issue, lest constituents "tell me how stupid I am." The other no vote later asked for comments on Facebook, and found that around 70% of respondents favored the bill, though there are certainly detractors. Tennessee is allowed to make the change under federal law because it stretches across two time zones. Two other multiple-time-zone states, Arizona and Hawaii, have done away with clock switching, too. (More daylight saving time stories.)