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S 2157

Relates to creating annual reporting obligations by municipal housing authorities to the authorities budget office with respect to state-funded activities of such municipal housing authorities

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Leroy Comrie

Massachusetts would adopt Atlantic Standard Time year-round, requiring interstate actions and a DESE study on school start times before taking effect.

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Bill Summary · S 2157

Summary — S.2157 (Senate Docket No. 940): "An Act relative to Massachusetts time zones and sunshine protection"

Purpose
- To set Massachusetts’ official time to Atlantic Standard Time (AST) year‑round (i.e., remain on standard time and not observe daylight saving time) and to evaluate school start times and related educational impacts of the change.

Key provisions
1. Replacement of statutory time rule
- Amends Chapter 4, §10 of the Massachusetts General Laws to designate the Commonwealth’s standard time as Atlantic Standard Time and to exempt the Commonwealth from changing to daylight saving time pursuant to the Uniform Time Act of 1966, 15 U.S.C. §260(a).
- Clarifies that this time standard will apply to all laws, deadlines, performance times by public officers/agencies, public schools, institutions, contracts, and other legal timings in the Commonwealth.

  1. Interstate contingency for effectiveness

    • Section 2 conditions the act’s effectiveness on at least two of the following states — New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, or Maine — taking one of these actions: (i) enter an agreement with Massachusetts to adopt AST, (ii) enact identical legislation, or (iii) direct a state official to request the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to place that state in the Atlantic time zone.

  2. School start time task force

    • Within 90 days of the act’s effective date, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) must convene a task force to study effects of school start times on elementary, middle and secondary students.
    • The task force must: conduct a comprehensive study (including academic performance and adolescent sleep science), hold public hearings statewide, solicit stakeholder input, and file findings and legislative recommendations with the Joint Committee on Education within 12 months of its first meeting.

  3. Federal petition

    • Within 120 days of the act’s effective date the Governor must petition the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to include Massachusetts in the Atlantic Standard Time zone under 15 U.S.C. §§260–267 (the Uniform Time Act).

Who would be affected
- Residents, businesses, state and local governments, public schools, healthcare and emergency services, broadcasters, transportation providers, and anyone with cross‑border interactions with neighboring states or federal schedules. Legally binding deadlines and contract timing would follow AST year‑round if the change takes effect.

Timing and procedural notes
- The law takes effect only after the specified interstate condition is met (at least two neighboring states take specified steps).
- Federal DOT action is required to alter time zone boundaries; thus state legislative action alone cannot unilaterally change federal time-zone designations.
- DESE task force deadline: report due within 12 months of the task force’s first meeting; Governor petition due within 120 days of the act’s effective date.

Potential impacts and considerations
- Practically, remaining on AST year‑round would make winter clock time in Massachusetts equivalent to current daylight saving time (i.e., clocks one hour ahead of current Eastern Standard Time); this affects sunrise/sunset times, commuter daylight, and synchronization with other states and financial/transportation schedules.
- Cross‑state coordination and federal approvals are necessary; phased stakeholder engagement and the DESE study aim to inform operational changes for schools.

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

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