Committee recommends 'ought to pass as amended' for LD 3 on time change; LD 4 remains under consideration

The Maine State and Local Government Committee voted on March 3, 2025, to advance L.D. 3 as amended, recording a roll call that included at least eight yes votes and two no votes before the roll call in the provided transcript ended.

The recommendation would send L.D. 3 — a bill that would allow the state to move to permanent daylight saving time only if federal law changes to permit it — to the next stage with an amendment adding the word “Eastern” in line 9 of the bill text. Committee members discussed federal limitations, regional coordination and child safety in morning hours in debate before the vote.

The committee’s analyst, Kristen (staff analyst), told members the central federal constraint is the Uniform Time Act: states may exempt themselves from observing daylight saving time, but they cannot unilaterally adopt permanent daylight saving time without congressional action. The analyst said Title 15 of the U.S. Code (sections 260–267) and the Uniform Time Act of 1966 limit state options and that requests to change time‑zone boundaries must go through the Department of Transportation and, ultimately, federal authorities.

Why it matters: The debate frames two different approaches offered in L.D. 3 and L.D. 4. L.D. 3, as written, would allow Maine to adopt permanent daylight saving time only if federal law changes; L.D. 4 would set the state on year‑round Eastern Standard Time. Committee members said they want to stop “springing ahead and falling back” but disagreed about which permanent arrangement is preferable.

Supporters of waiting for regional or federal action said a change that diverges from neighboring states could cause cross‑border confusion. Representative Will Toole said the preference for a permanent adjustment often falls along geographic lines and that people in his area tend to favor moving forward, while other parts of the state prefer staying on what they call “fall back” time.

Representative Randall Greenwood said, “we just wanna stop flipping the clocks back and forth.” Representative Wayne Farren said he favored L.D. 4’s approach because it would keep schoolchildren from traveling to buses in the dark. Representative David Rollins cautioned that a vote for L.D. 3, as drafted, would not itself put the state on permanent daylight saving time; he said, “we'll continue flipping the clocks back and forth until the federal government decides.”

On fiscal matters, the analyst reported no preliminary fiscal impact statement yet for L.D. 3 and a preliminary fiscal impact statement showing no fiscal impact for L.D. 4. The analyst also said the committee received a sunrise/sunset comparison chart and a history of previous proposals; similar bills on this subject have been introduced in recent sessions and the University of Maine System previously completed a study at the direction of the 130th Legislature.

Votes at a glance (as recorded in the provided transcript): the roll call recorded the following votes before the transcript ended: Representative Will Toole — yes; Representative Joseph Underwood — yes; Representative Adams — yes; Representative Palmer Lowe — no; Representative Randall Greenwood — no; Representative Anne Matlack — yes; Representative Sue Salisbury — yes; Senator Joseph Baldacci — yes; Senator Joseph Martin — yes; Representative Lynn Copeland — yes. The clerk continued the roll call after the last recorded line in the provided transcript.

The committee amended L.D. 3 by adding the word “Eastern” in line 9, per the analyst memo presented at the hearing. Committee members debated whether the word should be removed or retained; the analyst explained that including or removing the word affects whether the bill would reference Eastern time language already in statute.

Next steps: The committee advanced L.D. 3 as amended. L.D. 4 — which would adopt year‑round Eastern Standard Time — remains in committee; members asked for consideration of effective dates and clarity in the bills about how they would operate if federal law were to change. The transcript provided ends during the roll call for L.D. 3, and a final certified tally and any subsequent committee action on L.D. 4 were not included in the material supplied.

(Reporters’ note: direct quotes and vote attributions are taken from the committee transcript for the March 3, 2025 State and Local Government Committee hearing.)