A bill whose time has not yet come?
The state Senate took little time in defeating a measure that would have made two changes in how North Dakotans tell time. One – it would have put the whole state in one time zone – Central – instead of having some southweatern North Dakota counties on Mountain time. Secondly, it would have ended Daylight Savings Time for North Dakotans.
The time bill came out of the Senate Transportation Committee with a unanimous “Do Not Pass” recommendation. And Grafton Republican Senator Tom Campbell took a little floor time to explain the Committee’s decision.
"At first it was an interesting concept," Campbell said. "But then we found out there would be conflicts with border cities (during Daylight Savings Time), so we leaned against that."
As for the entire state going to Central Standard Time:
"Most of the people it would affect in the southweat corner like Mountain time," Campbell said. "We figured, why should we tell them in Central, what to do in Mountain, if they like it?"
No one took the time to speak in favor of the bill. And it was defeated on a 33 to 11 vote.
