Daylight Saving Time all the time for Washington?

State Sen. Jim Honeyford, a Sunnyside Republican, has fulfilled his 2018 pre-election pledge to push Washington to adopt Daylight Saving Time all the time.

Honeyford teamed with a pair of Western Washington Democrats to pre-file Senate Bill 5139 and Senate Bill 5140.

The bills would halt the spring-forward, fall-back cycle of everyone’s clocks if Congress amends the Uniform Time Act to allow states the option of going onto Daylight Saving Time year-round.

Florida and a handful of other states are pushing the issue at the federal level and it is fast gaining steam on the West Coast. California votes approved Initiative 7 in November to make the shift.

The 66th Washington Legislature convened Monday for a 105-day session. The time bills are assigned to the State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections committee.

On the eve of the Nov. 6 general election, Honeyford confirmed he was teaming with a counterpart in Oregon to put the Northwest on full-time Daylight Saving Time.

He said commerce would benefit from standardized time and that the twice-yearly shift between standard and daylight time leads to accidents and a rash of poor health and education outcomes.

Honeyford’s co-sponsors are Sens. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia and Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim.

His Oregon partner is State Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer. The Oregon 2019 Legislature begins Jan. 22. It was not immediately clear if she has pre-filed a similar bill.

This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Daylight Saving Time all the time for Washington?."