New England Lawmakers Propose Seceding from Eastern Time

Some corners of the United States are proposing bold alternatives to daylight saving time as most Americans brace themselves for losing an hour of sleep this weekend.

California has a bill that would ask voters to abolish the practice of changing clocks twice a year. Lawmakers in nearly a dozen other states, from Alaska to Florida, are debating similar measures. And some lawmakers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island want to go even further, seceding from the populous Eastern Time Zone and throwing their lot in with Nova Scotia and Puerto Rico.

Rhode Island Rep. Blake Filippi hopes most of New England would join the shift to Atlantic Time, one hour east. He says nearly everyone he speaks with would prefer more evening light to first thing in the morning.