Establishes permanent daylight saving time in NJ.

A1703

ASSEMBLY, No. 1703

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Kearney

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes permanent daylight saving time in NJ.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
relating to observing daylight saving time year-round
in the State of New Jersey, and supplementing chapter 1 of Title 1 of the
Revised Statutes and amending various parts of the statutory law.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� (New section)� The
Legislature finds and declares that:

���� a.���� The federal �Standard
Time Act of 1918,� Public Law 65-106, 40 Stat. 450, established standard time
zones for the United States bounded by the designated meridian lines, including
the zone designated as �United States Standard Eastern Time� in which this
State was placed, and provided for the advancement of time for each zone by one
hour from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October each year, a
practice commonly referred to as �daylight saving time.�

���� b.��� The federal �Uniform
Time Act of 1966,� (15 U.S.C. s.260a,) was enacted by Congress to promote the
adoption and observance of uniform time within the standard time zones of the
United States.� The �Uniform Time Act of 1966� did the following:

���� (1)�� expanded and renamed the
standard time zones, renaming the time zone, into which this State was placed
as �Eastern Standard Time�;

���� (2)�� re-established daylight
saving time as beginning on the last Sunday in April and ending on the last
Sunday in October each year; and

���� (3)�� authorized a state
entirely situated with one time zone, as this State is, to exempt itself from
the change to daylight saving time, as long as it does so uniformly as an
entire state.

���� c.���� In 1986, Congress moved
the beginning of daylight saving time to the first Sunday in April.� Through
the �Energy Policy Act of 2005,� Public Law 109-58, Congress established the
second Sunday of March as the beginning of daylight saving time and the first
Sunday in November as the end of daylight saving time.

���� d.��� (1)� Under federal law
as it exists, states are not permitted to observe daylight saving time
year-round; and

���� (2)�� it is the intention of
the Legislature of the State of New Jersey to observe daylight saving time
year-round, should the federal government authorize states to observe daylight
saving time year-round.

���� e.���� Over the intervening
101 years since the creation of daylight saving time, the residents and
businesses of this State have become more accustomed to the eight months of
daylight saving time each year than to the four months of standard time each
year.

���� f.���� The biannual change of
time between Eastern Standard Time and Eastern Daylight Time is disruptive to
commerce and to the daily schedules, safety, and health of the residents of
this State.

���� g.��� Remaining permanently on
daylight saving time permits this State to avoid negative impacts of the
shifts, such as the following:

���� (1)�� a��� 2013 study
published in The American Journal of Cardiology found that daylight saving time
shifts have a substantial negative influence on the risk of heart attack; and

���� (2)�� a� 2016 study published
in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics found that the transition
into daylight saving time caused over 30 deaths in fatal automobile crashes
between 2002 and 2011 due to sleep deprivation.

���� h.��� Remaining permanently on
daylight saving time permits this State to gain benefits, such as the
following:

���� (1)�� a 2004 study by Rutgers
University into the effects of daylight saving time on pedestrian fatalities
showed that full-year daylight saving time would reduce pedestrian fatalities
by 171 per year and motor vehicle occupant fatalities by 195 per year; and

���� (2)�� a 2010 study on the
effects of daylight saving time on motor vehicle crashes showed that daylight
saving time reduced crashes at dusk by providing better visibility for drivers.

���� 2.��� (New section)� When the
federal government authorizes states to observe daylight saving time
year-round, the Legislature shall require that the State of New Jersey observe
daylight saving time year-round, pursuant to R.S.1:1-2.3.

���� 3.��� R.S.1:1-2.3 is amended
to read as follows:

���� 1:1-2.3.������ The standard
time of this State shall be
[
the
time of the seventy-fifth meridian west from Greenwich
]

Coordinated
Universal Time minus four hours, and shall be considered Eastern Daylight Time
,
and wherever time is named within this State, in any manner whatsoever, it
shall be deemed and taken to be such standard time
[
, except that the standard time
of this State shall be 1 hour in advance of such prescribed time from 2:00 A.M.
on the last Sunday in April until 2:00 A.M. on the last Sunday in October in
each year, and except where otherwise expressed
]
.

(cf: P.L.1955, c.47, s.1)

���� 4.��� Section 18 of P.L.1940,
c.17 (C.5:5-38) is amended to read as follows:

���� 18.� Each person, partnership,
association or corporation desiring to hold or conduct a horse race meeting
within the State of New Jersey, during any calendar year, shall file with the
commission an application for a permit to hold or conduct such horse race meeting.�
A separate application shall be filed for each horse race meeting which such
applicant proposes to hold or conduct. �Any such application, if made by an
individual, shall be signed and verified under oath by such individual, and if
made by two or more individuals or a partnership, shall be signed and verified
under oath by at least two of such individuals, or members of such partnership,
as the case may be.� If made by an association or corporation, it shall be
signed by the president or vice-president thereof, and attested by the secretary
or assistant secretary under the seal of such association or corporation, if it
has a seal, and shall also be verified under oath by one of the officers
signing the same.� Such application shall specify the name of the person,
association or corporation making such application, and the post-office address
of the applicant; and if applicant is a corporation or an association, the
names and addresses of the directors thereof, and the name and address of each
owner or holder, directly or indirectly, of any share of stock or certificate
or other evidence of ownership of any interest in such corporation or
association and if a partnership, the names and addresses of all partners,
general or limited.� If the applicant is a corporation, the name of the State
of its incorporation shall be specified. �Such application shall further
specify the dates on which it is intended to conduct or hold such horse race
meeting, the hours of each racing day between which it is intended to hold or
conduct horse racing at such meeting, which shall be between the hours of 12
o'clock noon and
[
6
]

six
o'clock
P.M.,
[
Eastern
Standard Time
]

standard time
(exclusive of Sundays, on which day no race meeting� may
be conducted), and the location of the place, track or enclosure where it is
proposed to hold or conduct such horse race meeting. Such application shall be
in such form and supply such data including a blueprint of track and
specifications of surface of same and blueprint and specifications of buildings
and grandstand applicant, as the commission shall prescribe, which said blueprints
and specifications shall be subject to the approval of the commission.� The
commission shall furnish forms to be used in making such applications, and all
applications shall be made on such forms.

(cf: P.L.1954, c.239, s.1)

���� 5.��� Section 8 of P.L.1985,
c.405 (C.49:3-61.2) is amended to read as follows:

���� 8.��� The following securities
may be registered by notification, whether or not they are also eligible for
registration by coordination under section 7 of P.L.1985, c.405 (C.49:3-61.1)
or by qualification under section 14 of P.L.1967, c.93 (C.49:3-61):

���� a.���� Any security whose
issuer, and any predecessors, have been in continuous operation for at least
five years, if:

���� (1)�� There has been no
default during the current fiscal year or within the three preceding fiscal
years in the payment of principal, interest, or dividends on any security of
the issuer, or of any predecessor thereof, with a fixed maturity or a fixed
interest or dividend provision; and

���� (2)�� The issuer, and any
predecessors, during the past three fiscal years, have had an average net
earnings, determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting
practices:

���� (i)��� Which are applicable to
all securities without a fixed maturity or a fixed interest or dividend
provision, which securities are outstanding at the date the registration
statement is filed, and which average net earnings equal at least
[
5%
]

five
percent
of the amount of those outstanding securities, as measured by the
maximum offering price or the market price on a day, selected by the
registrant, within 30 days before the date of filing the registration
statement, whichever is higher, or by the book value on a day, selected by the
registrant, within 90 days of the date of filing the registration statement, to
the extent that there is neither a readily determinable market price nor a cash
offering price; or

���� (ii)�� Which average net
earnings, if the issuer, and any predecessors, have not had any security of the
type specified in subparagraph (i)� of this paragraph outstanding for three
full fiscal years, equal to at least
[
5%
]

five
percent
of the amount, as established in subparagraph (i)� of this
paragraph, of all securities which will be outstanding if all of the securities
being offered or proposed to be offered, whether or not they are proposed to be
registered or offered in this State, are issued;

���� b.��� A registration statement
under this section shall contain the following information and shall be
accompanied by the following documents, in addition to the information
specified in section 15 of P.L.1967, c.93 (C.49:3-62) and the consent to
service of process required by section 26 of P.L.1967, c.93 (C.49:3-73):

���� (1)�� A statement
demonstrating eligibility for registration by notification;

���� (2)�� With respect to the
issuer and any significant subsidiary:� its name, address, and form of
organization, the state or foreign jurisdiction and the date of its
organization, and the general character and location of its business;

���� (3)�� With respect to any
person on whose behalf any part of the offering is to be made in a nonissuer
distribution:� his name and address, the amount of securities of the issuer
held by him as of the date of the filing of the registration statement, and a
statement of his reasons for making the offering;

���� (4)�� A description of the
security being registered;

���� (5)�� The information and
documents specified in paragraphs (10), (12), and (14) of subsection (b) of
section 14 of P.L.1967, c.93 (C.49:3-61); and

���� (6)�� In the case of any
registration under paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section which does
not satisfy the conditions of paragraph (1) of subsection a. of this section, a
balance sheet of the issuer as of a date within four months prior to the filing
of the registration statement, and a summary of earnings for each of the two
fiscal years preceding the date of the balance sheet and for any period between
the close of the last fiscal year and the date of the balance sheet, or for the
period of the issuer's and any predecessors' existence, if less than two years.

���� c.���� If no stop order is in
effect and no proceeding is pending against any person directly or indirectly
involved in the offering under subsection (c) of section 3, section 17 or
section 23 of P.L.1967, c.93 (C.49:3-50, 49:3-64 or 49:3-70) or section 29 of this
act (C.49:3-70.1), a registration statement under this section automatically
becomes effective at three o'clock
[
Eastern�
Standard Time
]

, standard time,
in the afternoon of the second full business day after
the filing of the registration statement or the last amendment, or at such
earlier time as the bureau chief determines.

(cf: P.L.1997, c.276, s.17)

���� 6.��� Sections 1 and 2 of this
act shall take effect immediately and sections 3, 4, and 5 of this act shall
take effect on the first Sunday in November following the effective date of
federal authorization to observe daylight saving time year-round.

STATEMENT

���� This bill provides for the
State of New Jersey to permanently observe daylight saving time by remaining on
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) year-round.

���� For four months, the standard
time of New Jersey is Eastern Standard Time (EST), or five hours offset from
Coordinated Universal Time.� From 2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March until
2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November, the State participates in the
one-hour advancement of time, commonly referred to as �daylight saving time.��
The people of New Jersey have become more accustomed to the eight months of
daylight saving time each year than the four months of standard time.� Several
studies have shown the biannual change between EST and EDT is disruptive to
commerce and to the daily schedules, safety, and health of the citizens of the
country, and therefore, the residents of this State.

���� Under the federal �Uniform
Time Act of 1966,� states are not permitted to observe daylight saving time
year-round.� If the federal government amends federal law to authorize states
to observe daylight saving time year-round, the Legislature shall require that
the State of New Jersey observe daylight saving time year-round.

���� Sections 1 and 2 of this bill
would take effect immediately.� Sections 3, 4, and 5 of this bill would take
effect on the first Sunday in November following the effective date of federal
authorization to observe daylight saving time year-round.