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S 2179Public Services

State Affairs and Government - Standard and Daylight Savings Time

This bill keeps Rhode Island on Standard Time year-round, ending clock changes, if neighboring states agree to do the same.

Held for study
Population
Affected
95
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 16, 2026Committee Senate Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs

Plain-English Summary

This legislation proposes to eliminate the practice of changing clocks twice a year for Daylight Saving Time in Rhode Island. Instead, the state would adopt Eastern Standard Time on a permanent, year-round basis. However, this change will not happen immediately or unilaterally. The bill includes a provision stating that Rhode Island will only make this change if Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont also enact similar laws to adopt permanent Eastern Standard Time. Once all these states agree, they will collectively decide on a date to implement the new time standard.

For younger readers

Do you know how we change our clocks forward in the spring and backward in the fall? This bill wants to stop that. It says Rhode Island will keep the clocks the same all year long, just like they are in the winter. But, Rhode Island won't do this alone. They will only stop changing the clocks if the states nearby—Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont—decide to do the exact same thing. If everyone agrees, you wouldn't have to change the time anymore.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
CommutersStudentsBusiness OwnersParentsFarmers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Promotes public health and community welfare by eliminating the bi-annual clock changes, which studies link to increased rates of heart attacks, strokes, and sleep disruptions.
  • Improves safety for workers and commuters by maintaining consistent sleep schedules, potentially reducing traffic accidents and workplace injuries caused by fatigue.
  • Encourages regional cooperation by conditioning the change on the participation of neighboring states, ensuring a coordinated approach that benefits the broader New England community.
  • Adopts permanent Standard Time rather than Daylight Saving Time, resulting in earlier sunsets that reduce opportunities for outdoor recreation and community activities after work or school.
  • May negatively impact small businesses and the local economy, as earlier darkness often correlates with reduced consumer spending and foot traffic in the evenings.
  • Could potentially increase energy consumption and costs for low-income households, as lights will need to be turned on earlier in the day during the warmer months.
For Conservatives
  • Asserts state sovereignty by exercising the right to opt out of the federal Uniform Time Act mandates, prioritizing local control over federal directives.
  • Establishes a consistent, predictable schedule for businesses and families, removing the government-mandated disruption of bi-annual time changes.
  • Returns the state to "natural" time (Standard Time), rejecting the artificial manipulation of clocks that some view as government overreach.
  • Conditions Rhode Island's laws on the legislative actions of other states, effectively surrendering state autonomy to the political whims of neighboring governments like Massachusetts and Connecticut.
  • Likely harms local businesses and the economy by eliminating the extra hour of evening daylight that stimulates commerce, particularly in the tourism and recreation sectors.
  • Creates potential confusion and regulatory burdens for businesses operating across state lines if the regional agreement is not perfectly synchronized with major trading partners outside the specified group.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 11 additions · 18 deletions

SECTION 1. Sections 42-5-1 and 42-5-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-5 entitled "Standard and Daylight Saving Time" are hereby repealed. 42-5-1. Period of daylight saving time. At two o’clock antemeridian (2:00 a.m.) of the second Sunday in March of each year, the standard time in this state shall be advanced one hour, and at two o’clock antemeridian (2:00 a.m.) of the first Sunday in November of each year the standard time in this state shall, by the retarding of one hour, be made to coincide with the mean astronomical time of the degree of longitude governing the zone wherein the state is situated, the standard official time of which is described as United States standard eastern time so that between the second Sunday in March at two o’clock antemeridian (2:00 a.m.) and the first Sunday in November at two o’clock antemeridian (2:00 a.m.) in each year the standard time of the state shall be one hour in advance of the United States standard eastern time. 42-5-2. Effect of time change. In all laws, statutes, orders, decrees, rules, and regulations relating to the time of performance of any act by any officer or department of the state, or of any county, city, town, or district thereof, or relating to the time in which any rights shall accrue or determine, or within which any act shall or shall not be performed by any person subject to the jurisdiction of the state, and in all public schools and in all institutions of the state, or of any county, city, town, or district thereof, and in all contracts or choses in action made or to be performed in the state, it shall be understood and intended that the time shall be United States standard eastern time as changed by § 42-5-1.

SECTION 2. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 42-5.2-1. Period and effect of standard saving time. Standard time within the state shall be permanent standard time, as defined by “United States Standard Eastern Time” and shall be exempt from the advancement of time as provided by the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966, 15 U.S.C. § 260(a). Standard time shall apply to all laws, statutes, orders, decrees, rules and regulations relating to the time of performance of any act by any officer or department of the state, or of any county, city, town or district thereof, or any other political subdivision. Standard time shall also apply to all laws, statutes, orders, decrees, rules and regulations relating to the time in which any rights shall accrue or determine, or within which any act shall or shall not be performed by any person subject to the jurisdiction of the state in all public schools and in all institutions of the state, or of any county, city, town or district thereof, or any other political subdivision thereof and in all contracts in action made or to be performed in the state.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage and enactment by law of a permanent year-round “United States Eastern Standard Time” in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, in substantially the same form as § 42-5.2-1 and upon a date agreed upon by all five (5) states.