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LB 34

Provide for year-round daylight saving time

109th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Danielle Conrad and 1 co-sponsor

Nebraska would adopt year‑round daylight saving time, but only after federal authorization and neighbor states’ coordination to avoid border-time mismatches.

Title printed. Carryover bill
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Bill Summary · LB 34

Summary — LB 34 (2025): Provide for year‑round daylight saving time

Status: Placed on Final Reading (03/17/2025)
Introduced: 01/09/2025
Primary sponsor: Sen. Megan Hunt; Cosponsor: Sen. Conrad
Committee: Government, Military and Veterans Affairs — Advanced to General File (roll-call ayes: Andersen, Cavanaugh J., Guereca, Hunt, Lonowski, McKeon, Sanders, Wordekemper)

Purpose / Intent

LB 34 would move Nebraska to observe Daylight Saving Time (DST) year‑round rather than switching clocks seasonally. The bill is drafted so the change becomes effective only after federal authorization and after neighboring states coordinate adoption, to avoid creating time‑zone inconsistencies at state borders.

Key provisions

  • Amends several statutory sections (including 49‑1301, 49‑1302, 32‑908, 81‑1323, 81‑1328) to:
    • Establish the state’s standard time offsets as UTC−5 for the central time zone and UTC−6 for the mountain time zone (i.e., central and mountain zones aligned with DST offsets).
    • Make the current seasonal DST schedule (second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November) null and void once the new provision becomes operative.
    • Harmonize statutory references to time (e.g., polling hours, deadlines for receipt of ballots, and the time at which state employee sick and vacation leave accounts are balanced) so they are consistent with a year‑round DST regime (changes in phrasing from “Central Standard Time” to “central time” or similar).
  • Operative condition (timing): the year‑round DST language becomes operative on the first Sunday in November after BOTH:
    1. Federal law authorizes states to adopt year‑round DST (either by change in federal law or order of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation), and
    2. At least three states adjacent to Nebraska adopt laws providing a single year‑round standard of time.
  • Section 6 contains a repealer for superseded provisions.

Who would be affected

  • All Nebraska residents and businesses through changes in clock time year‑round where applicable.
  • State agencies and employees (timing references for leave accounting are harmonized).
  • Election administration (poll opening/closing times and ballot receipt deadlines remain tied to the applicable time zone, but statutory phrasing is updated).
  • Cross‑border commerce, transportation, schools, health care, broadcast schedules, and other time‑sensitive operations could be affected; coordination with neighboring states is required by the bill.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Introduced 01/09/2025; public hearing 01/31/2025 (proponents included the bill sponsor and the Nebraska Golf Alliance; opponents included representatives associated with “Save Standard Time”).
  • Enrollment & Review amendments (ER16) were adopted; bill advanced through Select File and placed on Final Reading 03/17/2025.
  • Fiscal notes were filed (dates: 01/30/2025 and 03/07/2025); the bill text and committee materials do not display a detailed fiscal estimate in the provided documents.

Practical implications / considerations

  • The bill is conditional on federal authorization; under current federal law states may opt out to permanent standard time but cannot unilaterally adopt permanent DST without federal approval. LB 34 explicitly waits for that authorization and for multi‑state coordination to reduce border time mismatches.
  • If activated, Nebraska would effectively adopt the present DST clock offsets year‑round (later sunsets in winter), with attendant effects on schedules, interstate coordination, technology/timekeeping, and possibly public‑health and safety considerations that often accompany DST policy debates.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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