Letter from Governor Askew to Geneva Robinson regarding Daylight Saving Time, February 26, 1974

Daylight saving

Education

School children--Transportation--Safety measures

A letter from Governor Askew to Geneva Robinson responding to her correspondence about Daylight Saving Time, dated February 26, 1974. Askew expresses his stance on Daylight Saving Time and suggests Robinson write to her congressmen and legislators.

Askew, Reubin O'Donovan, 1928-2016

State Archives of Florida, Series S125

1974-02-26

Florida. Governor (1971-1979 : Askew)

letters (correspondence)

eng-US

text

s125_b05_f12_x01

Late 20th-Century Florida (1968-2000)

Tallahassee (Fla.)

Leon County (Fla.)

Tampa (Fla.)

Hillsborough County (Fla.)

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Politics and Government

Robinson, Geneva

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.

The final outcome on this issue, of course, rests with either the United State Congress or our State Legislature, and for that reason you may wish to write your Congressional delegations and members of your local legislative delegation.
Your interest and concern are deeply appreciated.
Sincerely
Reubin Askew [signed]
Governor
ROA/dnd

In 1973, the United States was facing energy shortages and developed a variety of approaches to conserve energy as a result, including the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. This legislation established a trial period of year-round Daylight Saving Time (DST) from January 6, 1974 to April 27, 1975. The hope was that an extra hour of daylight in the evening would reduce energy consumption, especially the use of electricity.
In Florida, the change to year-round DST came with serious consequences. In the first few weeks after the time change was enacted, several school-aged children were injured in traffic accidents in the dark mornings on their way to school.
In response to these accidents, there was an outpouring of citizen correspondence to Governor Askew expressing their opinions on year-round DST and whether or not Florida should move to counteract the Federal mandate within the state.
On January 29th, 1974, the Florida Legislature met for a special session to discuss DST. At the end of this session, no legislation was passed, and Florida continued to comply with the year-round Daylight Saving Time that President Nixon established.
In 2018, the Florida Legislature passed the “Sunshine Protection Act” (HB1013/SB858), stating that Florida will enact a year-round DST, provided that the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 is amended to permit states to do so.