Permanent daylight savings time?

Rep. Brandon Reed, sponsor of the measure, told his colleagues on the House floor, “It saves energy, reduces traffic injuries, crime and helps with mental health, thus saving lives.”

He said several states are also involved in this effort, and more have gotten involved in recent years, “Florida, Washington and Tennessee, to name a few,” he said.

Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, said it used to be an urban versus rural issue, but no more. “Now, in my suburban district, 69 percent of my constituents support this bill.”

Reed says he called his local school bus garage to see how drivers felt about the issue. “They said they would prefer more sunlight at the end of the day. If you live in the Central Time Zone, it gets dark at 4:30. With this change it would get dark at 5:30.”

House Minority Whip Angie Hatton, D-Whitesburg, said it’s a popular issue in her district. “I’ve gotten more emails on this than I think I have gotten on anything since I’ve been in the House. I’m on board with this and I support it.”

Rep. Tina Bojanowski, D-Louisville, had another reason to favor the bill.

“Speaking as a teacher in support of this, I’ve experienced difficulty each time we change the time for the students to adjust. As a parent, it’s wonderful when my children can go out and play when it’s still daylight outside. They spend all day in school, I think the more daylight we have the better our kids will do in school. Hopefully get away from their video games and get outside to play.”

The resolution passed on a 92-2 vote and now heads to the Senate.

The measure is House Concurrent Resolution 53.