Finally! Frivolous legislation out of Tallahassee we can finally get behind!
State Sen. Darren Soto, an Orlando-area Democrat, has filed legislation that would keep Florida on daylight-saving time (DST) all year long.
As the kind of people who see sunrises only after all-night benders, Riptide can totally get behind this. Then when we wake up sometime in the middle of the afternoon, we realize it's not even worth carting our hung-over asses to the beach because the sun will just go right down again a few hours later.
Aside from lending a hand to alcoholics, supporters also point out the fact that the bill could be a boon to the economy. More daylight gives tourists -- people notorious for not waking up early in the day -- more time to do things like play golf, cruise the ocean, and spend their precious, precious out-of-state money.
However, there is one drawback to the bill. It would mean the sun wouldn't come up until around 8 a.m. in the winter, which could be a problem for kids waiting for the school bus and such. But the bill allows for school districts to adjust school start times.
Florida wouldn't be the first state to ignore time conventions. Most of Arizona and all of Hawaii keep their clocks on standard time year-round, but Florida would be the first state to enact permanent DST.
Some areas in places like Belarus and Iceland stay on permanent DST, and the entire United Kingdom tried the idea for a few years in the late 1960s, but like most experimentation in the '60s, it came to a quick end.
The only real problem we see with this (aside form the pesky fact it might not be allowed under federal law) is that it would mess with the start time of all our favorite TV shows. Who wants to wait until after midnight to watch Letterman?
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
