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Escambia County Would Move To Eastern Time Zone Under Proposal
January 24, 2018
A move to put all of Florida, including Escambia County, in the same time zone, while following daylight-saving time throughout the year, got the backing of a Senate committee on Tuesday.
But even if the proposal receives approval from the full Legislature, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Congress would both have to act for the changes to occur.
The Senate Community Affairs Committee voted in favor of the proposal (SB 858), which seeks to put Panhandle counties in the same time zone as the rest of the state and for Florida to observe daylight-saving time all year. Much of the Panhandle is now in the Central time zone, while the rest of the state is in the Eastern time zone.
Sen. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican who is sponsoring the proposal, initially sought to have the state exempted from daylight-saving time and observe standard time throughout the year. But an amendment Tuesday moved the bill closer to a House version (HB 1013), which seeks year-round daylight-saving time.
Steube said his proposal originated when visiting a barber, who complained that having to set clocks back an hour in the fall had a negative impact on children and it’s “kind of created a life of its own.”
“If you look at statistics on when people typically shop, they typically shop during the daytime. Because some people aren’t real comfortable going to the mall, going to shops, when it’s dark outside,” Steube said. “I’ve heard from mayors from all across the state because they’re going to save money on softball fields because it will stay light later in the day.”
Daylight-saving time occurs between 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November of each year.
A Senate staff analysis noted that there would be “indeterminate” and “insignificant” costs tied to the change as people would have to reprogram computers and other electronic devices so the automatic change of clocks wouldn’t occur each spring and fall.
Under the bill, dubbed the “Sunshine Protection Act,” the U.S. transportation secretary would have to initiate rulemaking to redesignate the portions of Florida that currently lie within the Central time zone to the Eastern time zone. Congress would have to approve legislation to allow the state to remain under year-round daylight-saving time.
Steube’s proposal must still go before the Senate Commerce and Tourism and Rules committees.
The House version, which doesn’t include putting the Panhandle counties into the same time zone as the rest of the state, is scheduled to make its first appearance before the House Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Wednesday.
by Jim Turner The News Service of Florida
Comments
96 Responses to “Escambia County Would Move To Eastern Time Zone Under Proposal”
I know how many people in the panhandle think. As a general rule, they are extremely set in their ways. As such, most will balk at the mere suggestion of a time zone change but I LOVE THE IDEA! I would absolutely celebrate if we went to the EST zone. I love being outdoors year round and this would allow me more time to do so in daylight. If people actually realized that going to the EST zone would give them more daylight year round, they might just say yes, lets move to the EST zone! It would be wonderful!
Noooo. Leave us alone.
This is by far the stupidest thing I’ve seen from Florida Lawmakers and that said a lot. Living in Alabama and working in Florida and vise versa, that would be insane.
No! Do not move Northwest FL to Eastern Time Zone!!!
Southern Florida Representatives need to worry about South Florida and leave us alone in the Panhandle. You cannot represent us if you do not know us and from the action being taken it is clear that you do not. If you knew us, you would know that we would rather you spend your time on something more important like healthcare or Medicare reform than something that is a non-issue here. Take care of your own and we will take care of ourselves. Thank you very much.
Changing the panhandle to eastern time would destroy a lot of the great business relationships we have with our neighbors in Alabama. Georgia and North Florida east of Tallahassee are on eastern time and it works for them. Alabama and North Florida west of Tallahassee are on Central time and it works here as it has for many, many years. Sen. Steube needs to focus on problems in his district south of Tampa instead of creating new ones outside of his district
Yes I agree with the proposed changes. We are too Far East to be in the central time zone. It gets dark too early in the summer and that reduces the time for family activity in the evening. Since the longest day occurs on June 21 most of the summer sees a decline in daylight each day. In the winter there is no daylight at all and all evening activity is in darkness. We live in a beautiful area and I applaud the change that will give more time to enjoy it!
NO! do not move us. The folks in south Florida need to leave us alone.
NO. NO. NO. Leave our time alone. The people in Eastern Time think it would be best for us. What the Heck do they know. As a minimum, Prime time tv would be from 8-11PM, which is past bedtime for working people. Our children would be catching the morning bus in the dark. What do these politicians think they are doing. Find something important to vote on and leave us alone.
NO, NO, NO!!!!!
Do they not have any other business or problems to take care of than create problems where there are none!!!
Leave it alone! Except get rid of daylight savings time!
*ridicuouls
This is a redicuoils proposal being spearheaded by a senator who loves 8 hours from the areas this would impact. As a resident of Escambia County I know many people live in escambia but commute to neighboring Baldwin County (in Alabama). This would be a disaster for those people, I cannot see what the advantage of changing the time zone for those of us who live in the panhandle.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
Nooooooooooooooooo
Since they can’t figure out a 1 hour time difference in the Panhandle they are going to punish us with a 2 hour time difference, in the winter, with Alabama. Love how he said he talked to some people who do business “out there” and not actually talked to the people who live in the area.
@ Amused
I’m neither but have to vote Republican. You know the lesser of 2 evil’s and exactly why I voted for Trump because he can’t be bought. If you think there aren’t Republican liberal’s your as lost as the rest of America that wants change. The only thing that needs changing is putting God back in schools. We had 8 years of change and look at the mess our country is in. Snowflakes scared of everything that moves. All either party cares about is padding their pockets. SO YEAH I’M SICK OF LIBERALS.
CJ: FOR LEAVING WHAT WORKS ALONE!!
I live across the state line in Alabama and I work in Pensacola. It would be a nightmare to live and work in 2 different time zones.
NO NO NO Eastern Time???
GOD’s time does not need to be tampered with. I often wonder why man thinks he can improve on what GOD has created. The human biological clock is set to GOD’S time not man’s contrived time. With daylight savings time the human body does not get the proper rest, regardless of what time that body goes to bed. In other words, if it ain’t broke it don’t need fixin.
The bad thing about being at the far western edge of EST is that the sun doesn’t come up until after 8am in the winter, they don’t have that problem on the east coast.
This is a lot of insanity. The people who WANT the change don’t even LIVE here! My daughter who gets on the bus at 6:15am for school would be in PITCH BLACK darkness in the winter. The sun wouldn’t even set until 9:30-10 PM in the summer. COME ON People! Use the gray mass between yours ears that God gave you.
This would create such a mess with afternoon activities that involve our children for those of us who work across the state line. If you figure that your job ends at 5 in Alabama each day, according to the possible changes, that would mean it would be 7 in Florida. This would greatly impact what you would be able to do with your children in the afternoons!!! (2 hours difference when Alabama moved to Standard Time.) (1 hour difference when Alabama will be on Standard time.) Or at least i think i’m thinking about this right.
Keep us in the central time zone. And stop daylight saving time. Let the time be natural as the seasons change. Small children who have a 7 or 8 bedtime do not want to go to bed while it is still daylight outside.
One reason Day Saving Time was started was so Ben Franklin could save money on candles.
Hunting and fishing? You would get at least another hour to sleep! I’m for it
I think this is a wonderful idea! We should have been on Eastern time zone all along. If this passes, we will actually have some daylight left in the evenings after we get home from work. I’ve always wanted to have Daylight Savings Time all year long too! I really hope this passes.
CJ>>>
I’d just like to point out that the person who sponsored this proposal is a Republican. Not a liberal.
Just because Tallahassee still cannot grasp the concept that we are a two-time zone state shouldn’t mean that we who work, recreate and do business daily in Alabama should be punished. Nor should it infer that we even need a change. I don’t travel the three-hour-drive into the Eastern time zone in Tallahassee near as much as the daily connection to Alabama, less than 20 miles away.
The reason that the panhandle is in CST zone is because of the large number of people that either work in Alabama and live in Florida or vice versa. Lawmakers need to look at the time zone map and they would easily see the reason things are the way they are. The CST/EST line runs along the western Georgia border straight south, BTW Georgia is on EST. There is no valid reason to change the panhandle of Florida to Eastern time. Please leave it alone
I agree CJ. leave things alone. All these people that love changing things just have nothing better to do. If you want to live in a different time zone then I suggest you move there. Crybabies will never be satisfied. Same sort of people sit around thinking of ways to ruin this country
Better yet just extend the state line for Alabama at the CST/EST zone and make the panhandle part of the state of Alabama!! That’s how stupid your idea sounds. Before your mouth opens and says then move to Alabama, you have the same option to move to EST Zone!! SICK OF LIBERALS!!!!!!
The Counties affected by a change to Eastern Time should initiate and drive the change, if it is desired. The proposed shift to year round Daylight Savings Time could reasonably be made by legislators from any region. As for confusion, I was in Flagstaff, Arizona and was going to pick my husband up at the airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before leaving to pick him up, I tried to confirm the actual time in Las Vegas, but the staff at the hotel had no idea what I was talking about or how to determine what time it was in Las Vegas! Arizona is on Mountain Time, but does not use DST. Navaho Nation in Arizona is on Mountain Time and uses DST. Nevada is on Pacific Time and observes DST. As a tourist I found this disconcerting that locals did not understand enough to assist me. I did get there on time!
Sitting here looking out the window. It’s 6:00 am CST. Pitch black outside.
Add one hour (convert to CDT, or EST), it’s 7:00 am and pitch black outside. Add another hour (now EDT), and its 8: am and pitch black outside. The sun will rise in one more hour, at 9:00 am.
Why would we want to change all this up to have the sun rise at 9:00 am during the winter?
Here’s a novel idea – how about improving our education system instead of worrying about changing our time zone? Changing us to the Eastern time zone would just create more problems than it would.
Think about it people, do you really want a two hour time difference between Florida and Alabama, especially around the holidays, because that is exactly what you get with this plan. If the panhandle went to Eastern time it would always be a hour ahead of Alabama in the Central time zone, then if Florida were to stay on daylight-saving time year around, when Alabama falls back in November, and Florida stayed on DST, that would put us one more hour ahead of Alabama, making us two hours ahead of them from November until March. If Florida went to DST year round, it would be the first and only state on DST during the winter throwing Florida out of wack with all the other states.
So we should nix this because of the very low percentage of pandhandlers who work across state lines? Let’s use our brains, people.
I personally do not want this change. I don’t like change and I’m not interested in making things better. Just keep everything the way it is or maybe change it back to the way it was when i was a youngin because USA was great back then. We change to eastern time zone and obama wins.
No matter how you slice up the clock, you’re only going to get so much daylight and so much darkness out of a 24 hour period. God made that pattern, not the legislature.
Simple solution: 1) Everybody pick your own time zone. 2) Move there.
Wow, this is certainly a firestorm. After reading all the blogs it’s quite apparent the public is very divided on such a proposal. This issue (if it goes forward) should not be determined in the state house or senate, but by the voters of the affected counties only.
Finally, I’ve been wanting to move to EST for years! Look at a map, CST ends clear out in the western US, they stay light hours after we do. Almost directly above us is EST, but for some reason we’re in CST. Maybe some people should just move to Alabama if they hate Florida so much, I get so tired of all the, “we’re not like the rest of Florida” comments, well the rest of FL must be doing something right, they’re definitely making more money than folks around here! Most anything that happens that’s worth much is on the East coast anyway, the farther we are from California’s time zone the better..
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT i suggest that our elected LEADERS drop everything and take care of this now after all it has worked for a number of years so it should messed up NOW after all we cant have something that works
Golly I would never know the right time. Maybe I could wear two watches. 1 marked FL and 1 marked AL.
Wow it wouldn’t get dark till almost 10pm.
REGARDING:
“Everyone enjoys it being daylight later in the evening.”
Unless the school start times are changed, much of the year we will be picking up children in the dark. They tend to be run over and killed under those conditions.
David for healthy children
You won’t like it. A lot of the good TV shows will end up coming on at ten at night. (I moved to Ohio and really don’t like the Eastern Time Zone) The kids will feel like they getting up in the middle of the night for school. I say leave it alone and move the rest of us to it. Get rid of moving the clocks back and forth too.
I think we should scrap daylight savings all together.no more clock changes it’s hard to get your body I to that new rhythm. Especially during the spring.
Just say NO! Personally I like having the last say in an election!
I am quite amused by all the people talking about how confused everyone will be who live in Alabama and work in Pensacola, or vice versa if all of Florida became EST. Guys, what do you think the rest of the citizens who live near the time zone borders do? Are they all perpetually confused trying to get to work, or watch their local TV? I get what everyone’s concerns with, but you are making the people in lower Alabama and the Panhandle of Florida sound ignorant and unable to handle a 1 hour time difference. This is insane. There are people all over the country who handle this every day. As for losing DST….I am all for not having to move clocks back and forth. Parts of Arizona are like this and I worked for a company there that half the year I was an hour ahead of them, half the year I was 2. Yes, it could be frustrating, but we all just adjusted and went about our business. Amazing how that can happen if you want to work.
Shifting just an hour won’t do. We need to shift a whole day. I want the Panhandle to be out of sync with Alabama and the East Coast. But not to confound them. There has to be some way, some money angle to make a buck off our neighbors with a partially offset weekend. Heck, if it’s Sunday somewhere else and Saturday or Monday here people are going to come here to buy alcoholic beverages. All the entrepreneurial spirit needs is a spark to set it off. This could be the big ka-BOOM the Panhandle needs. MAGA,
Keep it the way it is.
Central time zone and move the clocks so kids have move daylight in the AM. in the fall.
Leave it alone
A Alex. If one hours difference between Beulah FL and Seminole ALA will be enough to confuse the employees at Navy Federal should you really trust them to handle your money?
Please leave Pensacola alone! It ain’t broke don’t fix it!
If anyone is interested in contacting the Greg Steube
( A SOUTH FLA SENATOR )
District office
941 342 9162
Tall Office
850 487 5023
Let the that him know……………
JLSeale
I think its a good idea I have worked all my life crossing the time zone and believe me if it would stay at day light saving it would benefit the whole state I am in favor of it that’s the way I feel about it.
Keep DST all year. (Top priority)
Move panhandle to Eastern time zone. (Lower priority)
Put each item on the ballot this fall. Changing panhandle to ETZ only on ballots for panhandle counties. South Florida should have no say in panhandle time zone.
It isn’t broke so don’t try to fix it! Being this close to Alabama (CST) would totally screw everything up, while everything east of Tallahassee would stay the same. Do lawmakers not understand the four seasons?
I welcome it, yes please
NO NO NO! ! !
Does anyone in the Senate understand the nature of the seasons? The daylight hours are shorter in the winter EVERYWHERE. That would mean all our children are going to be getting on the bus & spending the first hour or 2 at school in the dark. As for moving to eastern time? That’s party of what makes the panhandle so special… we AREN’T like the rest of the state and don’t need to be treated as such!
You guys do realize that an entire sub-set of the nation has to deal with the problems you’re talking about every single day…right? Millions of people live, work, and attend school on time-zone borders. And *gasp* they’ve survived!
People in Gulf county FL have to adjust their business accordingly with Franklin county FL every day.
A small portion of Franklin county is in CST, while the majority of the same exact county is on EST, how do you think those families feel dealing with the differences every day? And that’s just a very small example from our own state. Imagine following that time zone border all the way up.
Using the AL/FL state line difference as an example shows narrow-minded views based on your own personal objection. To truly explain to your Senate and Congress why this won’t be good, look at the larger scale picture for everyone.
How exactly will an hour difference on a clock effect your commute to a different state each morning? How exactly will it effect your shopping, dining, and personal affairs?
What does someone from Sarasota know about what the people in central time want or is best for them? Let us the people vote on it better yet leave it alone. Making such a change would be detrimental to the people in this area. One would think elected officials would have more important things to be concerned with. Vote him OUT!
To what point and purpose (on the Eastern time zone thing)??? Does the legislature have a compelling reason for the change? And I echo the comments from folks who wonder if they’ve asked any of us in the Panhandle.
I see a lot of employees getting fired because of this change! Because if your from Alabama working in Florida and have to be to work at 7 instead of leaving at 6 you have to leave at 5. And if your from Florida working in Alabama instead of leaving at 6 to be to work at 7 you have to leave at 7 to get to work at 7! Dang my brain hurts already. And to have to do it on nearly a daily basis omg! And not to mention getting off from Alabama to Florida get of at 5 get home at 7 and from Florida to Alabama get of at 5 get home at 5. Leave us at central time and keep daylights savings time!
(I think that’s right)
why cant you people just leave stuff alone?If it is not broke do not fix it.
This could work. I have been to the GA/AL line a few times and gotten confused by the two time zones just miles away, but residents there do fine. I think it would be an adjustment when considering the “time” that it will be when traveling outside of the state, but once you get used to it, it won’t seem so life altering. I also support us picking a “time” and sticking to it.
I love daylight savings, so yes on that issue but no on time zone change.
I suggest making the four western counties in Florida part of Alabama. Then we won’t have to put up with south Florida’s BS.
I will admit that I am not the best when it comes to understanding politics etc…but how is it that a politician in SARASOTA can possibly have talked to that may people in the area affected by this proposal?? I think all affected by this should go ahead and let their representatives know what they want regarding this possible change!
This is a story about time, and the point is the Florida Legislature has too much time on their hands if they’re coming up with this proposal.
This would be a disaster since folks living in Alabama (Seminole or Atmore for instance) work in Pensacola. You should keep us in the same time zone. I have family in Phenix City, Alabama that work in Columbus, Georgia. The Chattahoochee is the dividing line for the Eastern and Central time zones. But since a lot of folks in Phenix City work in Columbus, that part of Alabama stayed in the Eastern time zone. That was the right thing to do.
Keep us CTZ–I’m all for Daylight Savings Time all year round though. It was always so depressing to get off work at 5pm and it already be dark outside. The kids could stay out later with sports too if we kept DST year round.
If we were currently under this proposal, one time zone on EDT, today it would be 11:10 EDT in all of Florida. 10:10 EST in Georgia. 9:10 CST in Alabama.
Ponder that.
Spring it forward in March and leave it. Never change it again. I don’t think anyone around here is interested in being on eastern time. Put it on the ballot and vote!!!
This is a terrible idea in every way. It will impact the entire north and west boarders of the panhandle on both sides. If we go exclusively to DST then when Al. Goes back to regular CT we will have a two hour separation. Think about what that will do to people working across the state line. For those of you who like to watch tv at night think about how that will change as well. Let’s find more reasonable ways to make life better.
Ever get the feeling this is all about causing us more stress? Stress, more illness!
The only upside is the children not standing in the dark waiting for their school bus after the time change in the fall.
Many of you are not thinking this all the way through. You don’t want to to be in the Eastern time zone because nearby Alabama is not (work, school, TV markets, etc), but you want to get rid of daylight savings time.
So, for instance, on July 4, it would be 8 p.m. in Alabama but it would be 7 p.m. in Florida without daylight savings time. So same problems would exist!
Best thing ever! If we can’t get on Eastern, at least let’s stay in daylight savings time. Everyone enjoys it being daylight later in the evening. Normally when we “fall back”, everybody complains because it’s it dark at 5oclock. Let’s do this!
Wow.. only in Florida.. pool it gets dark earlier.. time change happens for everyone every year. It amazes me the stupid chit that people buy into
This is a terrible idea for those of us in the panhandle who work so close to areas such as Mobile and Atmore. This will create such confusion going from one time tzone to another. With this area being so close to Alabama, I really feel that central time zone serves us better. The legislators should ask those of us who will be impacted!!
I love the concept of staying on daylight savings time year round but to go eastern time zone would have to include Mobile and bordering counties in Alabama. We are one market for TV and have many commuters in both directions. Get SW Alabama to agree to do the same and I am for it. If not leave it alone. The best solution would be for the Federal Government to make DST nationwide the standard year round giving us more light in the winter evenings. This shifting clocks back and forth each spring and fall is a darn nuisance!
NO, allot of Bama people works in Escambia ,Fl and vise versa.
How many Navy Federal people be confused at the difference.
THINK before acting.
This would be so nice to have daylight longer.. I don’t see good to drive at night so when it turns dark I stay home, I never understood the stupid change anyway.. Please pass this for everyone in the Panhandle..
Imagine driving between Century and Flomaton or Davisville and Atmore and experiencing an hour change each time, each way.
David for some relation to the sun
NO
Really, don’t our senators have better things to put their energy into? There are a host of issues I can think of. Starting with healthcare and insurance. Jeez. Sounds like keeping the lights off the baseball field to save money is Top Priority.
I’m all about getting rid of DST, but leave us in central time zone as we are further West than most think.
That would cause great confusion for us on the panhandle. Keep it as it is!
I hate the eastern time zone…….
It has been proven time and time again that daylight “savings” time doesn’t save anything. The only ones who benefit from it are the energy companies. The prolonged sunlight late into the evening costs us more on air conditioning which is the bulk of everyone’s power bill. The whole thing was a farce from the very beginning of it. As far as the softball fields go, I have 3 girls that all play softball and we at Molino pay our own bill, as I’m sure most small parks like us do. The county doesn’t help us with basically anything. I sure hope that the public gets a vote on this and has sense enough to vote no.
If this happens I will move back to Florida….I grew up there but moved away…..I hate CDT — it screws everything up.
Did anybody check with the Panhandle to see if we even wanted to be included in Eastern Time Zone? I am perfectly content being in CTZ.
While I agree with changing to year-round daylight savings time, I disagree with the change to Eastern time. Many people live in Pensacola and work in Mobile, our sister city, and vice versa. This also applies to people who live/work in Escambia County, Alabama, and commute to the Panhandle and vice versa.
NO, what a mess that would cause especially here on the state line.
This would cause major confusion in our area since our local TV networks cover both Pensacola and Mobile.
Split the difference and move the clocks 30 mins, then never touch em again.
Why not let the people vote for this, what about the people that have to drive back-and-forth from Florida to Alabama and vice versa every day for work and such that would be hard on the body to be in 2 time zones back-and-forth every day