SB 51 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Permanent standard time.

Summary

Existing state law, Proposition 7, an initiative measure approved by the voters at the November 6, 2018, statewide general election, sets the standard time for California and sets daylight saving time to begin each March and end each November, as specified. Proposition 7 authorizes the Legislature to amend these provisions by a 23 vote to change the dates and times of the daylight saving time period, consistent with federal law, and authorizes the Legislature to amend these provisions by a 23 vote to provide for the application of year-round daylight saving time when authorized by federal law. This bill would repeal daylight saving time in the state and the provisions regarding the Legislature's authority to amend the above-described provisions by a 23 vote. The bill would instead require the state and all political subdivisions of the state to observe year-round standard time. The bill would exempt the state and all political subdivisions of the state from the provisions of federal law that establish the advancement of time. The bill would make related findings and declarations.

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2024

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Dec 18, 2024 Last action Feb 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

03/17/25 - Amended Senate → 04/08/25 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · Apr 8, 2025

MODERATE

The April 8 amendment to SB 51 makes the repeal of daylight saving time more absolute by removing the retained DST period provision and the two-thirds vote amendment authority from Section 6808. The bill now simply establishes Pacific standard time and exempts the state from federal DST law, with no remaining mechanism for the Legislature to restore or modify DST. New coauthors were added and the fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes'.

SCOPE

Section 6808 no longer includes a daylight saving time period (second Sunday of March to first Sunday of November) or a two-thirds vote provision allowing the Legislature to change DST dates or adopt year-round DST. The section now only establishes Pacific standard time and exempts the state from federal advancement-of-time law, making the DST repeal more permanent and harder to reverse.

REQUIREMENT

A new finding (g) was added stating that permanent standard time has been historically proven to work without incident, reinforcing the bill's justification for eliminating DST.

FISCAL

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes', meaning the bill now requires review by the appropriate fiscal committee before passage.

TECHNICAL

Senator Jones was added as a coauthor, and Assembly Member Garcia was added alongside Assembly Member Ta.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.

upper

Apr 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 2. Page 809.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Apr 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E., U & C.

upper

Mar 26, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on E., U & C.

upper

Mar 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Jan 29, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Dec 18, 2024

Introduced

Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors