State Representatives Filippi, Chippendale, and Reilly have proposed legislation to move Rhode Island from the Eastern Time Zone to the Atlantic Time Zone. Essentially, the legislation would turn the clocks forward one hour and would have the same effect as making summertime daylight saving hours permanent.
“Once we spring forward, I don’t want to fall back,” Rhode Island State Rep. Blake Filippi said to the Associated Press. “Pretty much everyone I speak to would rather have it light in the evening than light first thing in the morning.”
The legislation follows the lead of a bill in the Massachusetts Legislature to change their time zone. If Massachusetts changes time zones, the Rhode Island law would go into effect.
In the meantime, Rhode Island has a $190.4 million budget deficit.
