STATE OF FLORIDA
Office of the Governor
THE CAPITOL
TALLAHASSEE 32304
REUBIN O’D. ASKEW
GOVERNOR
February 26, 1974
Mrs. Geneva Robinson
20 Street
Tampa, Florida
Dear Mrs. Robinson:
Please accept my apologies for this informal response to your correspondence concerning Daylight Saving Time. However, because of the large volume of mail on this issue, I am unable to answer each letter and telegram personally.
As you know, I asked the Florida Legislature to repeal Daylight Saving Time as it applies to most of our State. For the most part, the Federal Emergency Daylight Saving Time Conservation Act granted this power to the various legislatures, rather than to the governors, in states as Florida which encompass two time zones.
While our Legislature did not pass the legislation which I requested, it is my intention to continue to press for reveal of Winter Daylight Saving Time both in the United States Congress and in the Florida Legislature when it convenes for the regular session in April.
The better course, in mv view, would be for Congress to repeal the year-round Daylight Saving Time which it passed at the request of the President in December. This would keep most of Florida on the same clock time as the rest of the Eastern Seaboard and enable us to shift to Daylight Saving Time during the summer months for recreational and family benefits.
However, if such national legislation cannot be achieved, I believe it is still imperative that Florida act before our children would once again be required to go to school in the dark. As I told the Legislature during the recent special session, any amount of commercial or other disruption which might be caused by the repeal would be small indeed when compared to the life of even a single child whose death could be attributed to a too-early start of the school day.