Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Living Daylights

This just in -- a news release from Sen. Mary Jane Garcia's office:

Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia’s (D-Dona Ana) "Wake Up Call" measure exempting New Mexico from observing daylight-saving time is springing forward toward becoming law. The Senate Public Affairs Committee today voted 7-1 in favor of the proposal.

States Sen. Garcia: "There are so many reasons for New Mexico to exempt itself from this archaic policy. Health issues include increased numbers of heart attacks for the three days following the switch, and sleep deprivation that affects concentration, mood and motor skills. Professional and social schedules are disrupted: hasn’t every one of us at some point in our lives missed an appointment because we forgot to change the clocks? Doing this would align us with Arizona, which doesn’t observe daylight-saving time, and would relieve the Navajo Nation from their current bizarre situation of operating within two different time zones."

The "Wake Up Call" bill is Senate Public Affairs Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 716. It now goes before the full Senate for consideration.