Yes, Wyoming you still must set your clocks back on Nov. 1

WORLAND — In March the Wyoming State Legislature approved a bill, and Governor Mark Gordon signed it, that would keep Wyoming in Mountain Daylight Time year round if certain conditions are met.

Those conditions have not been met and the bill’s sponsor said it could take years before they are met.

Rep. Dan Laursen (R-Powell) brought the daylight saving time bill before the legislature for several years before finally getting it passed both Houses earlier this year. This year, he said, he thinks the difference was requiring at least four of seven neighboring states to pass similar legislation.

“They didn’t want us to go alone,” Laursen said. “We finally got the senators on board and I think that was due to requiring more states to pass similar legislation.”

Wyoming’s bill states “Not fewer than four western states including Wyoming must pass legislation to place all or a portion of those states on year-round daylight time, regardless of the time zone.

Wyoming defines western states as Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

To date only Utah and Idaho have passed similar legislation, also this year.

Utah’s bill, however, requires at least four western states, other than Utah to place all or a portion of those states on year-round daylight time, regardless of time zone. Utah defines western states as Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

According to the Idaho State Legislature website, a bill passed this March effects only the portions of the state in the Pacific time zone and only if “the state of Washington makes daylight saving time the permanent time.”

Due to the language in both Utah and Wyoming of placing all or a portion of a state in daylight time regardless of time zone, Idaho would count towards both Utah and Wyoming’s requirements.

Montana killed similar legislation in 2019. It meets again in 2021. In Colorado, a bill to keep the state on standard time year-round failed in 2019, a bill to keep the state on daylight saving time failed in 2020, and a ballot initiative failed to get the question on the ballot for the upcoming general election. Nebraska legislation introduced a bill this year but it was indefinitely postponed.

Arizona observes standard time year-round.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures website, ncsl.org, 13 states in the past three years have passed legislation to remain in daylight saving time — Florida, Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming.

The website shows no action in North Dakota and similar legislation failing in South Dakota.

Laursen said, “We need four out of seven states to pass similar law then we need to have the federal government actually say we could do that.”

The request would have to go to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

“Before that I would hope the federal law would change and say they would allow it, that’s what I would hope,” Laursen said.

This year, he said people need to fall back and set clocks back an hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1.

“Yes, you have to fall back. I think it will be years. The feds need to take it up but they probably couldn’t agree on it,” Laursen added.