Residents divided on time change

A bill scrapping moving clocks forward and backward for daylight saving time in the state has prompted mixed reactions from local residents.

Senate Bill 239 proposes making Mountain daylight saving time the permanent time zone for the state, as opposed to just eight months each year.

The bill passed the Senate 26-15 and is currently in the House of Representatives.

Daylight saving time is this coming Sunday.

According to the bill, a state can “exempt itself from the change to daylight saving time as long as it does so uniformly as an entire state.”

The bill also notes state residents are better accustomed to daylight saving time, as changing clocks can disrupt schedules.

Atlanta native Darius Lyons, currently stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, agrees with the bill.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” Lyons said. “A lot of states are changing it. If it’s working for everybody else, why not for New Mexico?”

Clovis resident Bilal Bhatty agrees it is worthwhile to see how the change affects other states like Arizona, adding the change would benefit him as a morning person who is most productive during the summer.

“If it’s more daylight for me, I like that,” said Bhatty. “If we keep more daylight in the mornings, it gets people up earlier and get productive in the morning. The sooner I see the sun rise, the faster I get up. I like to be productive in the mornings.”

But not all residents see the benefits of the change.

“That’s weird,” said Charlee Hall. “It’s always been you change it (the clocks) twice. Why change it now? Everyone’s used to it. You always get a quote saying, ‘It’s time to change your clocks.’ It’s always been like that since I was born.”

She added it might only prove more confusing, asking “Why add this on top of everything else that is going on right now?”

Clovis resident Cedric Chapman, who travels in-between jobs in Clovis and Friona, already has to balance Mountain and Central times, and believes it would be more complicated traveling between one state that changes clocks and another state that doesn’t.

“It throws off the time a little bit,” said Chapman.

Portales resident Bill Singleton said he was indifferent to the bill.

“I adjust my time for whatever is convenient for the job I’m doing,” he said. “I’m gonna do it (work) whether it’s daylight savings or not. If I need to be there at six in the morning, I’ll be there at six in the morning.”

Singleton added if Texas and other states followed suit, it would be less confusing to manage time zones.

“You’ve got to always keep up with that,” he said. “If everybody would do it at the same time, the relationship would be easier. If your flight (in Texas) leaves at nine, how does that compare to what my watch says?”