An Act amending the act of April 13, 1887 (P.L.21, No.18), entitled "An act for the establishment of a uniform standard of time throughout the Commonwealth," providing for Atlantic standard time; and prohibiting the use of daylight saving time.

PRINTER'S NO. 314
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 364
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA AND DUSH, MARCH 3, 2025
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 3, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 13, 1887 (P.L.21, No.18), entitled "An
act for the establishment of a uniform standard of time
throughout the Commonwealth," providing for Atlantic standard
time; and prohibiting the use of daylight saving time.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The General Assembly declares that the sole and
uniform legal standard of time throughout this Commonwealth,
including municipalities of this Commonwealth, shall be Atlantic
standard time and that daylight saving time shall not be used as
a standard of time.
Section 2. Section 1 of the act of April 13, 1887 (P.L.21,
No.18), entitled "An act for the establishment of a uniform
standard of time throughout the Commonwealth," is amended to
read:
Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That (a) on and after the
first day of July, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and
eighty-seven, the mean solar time of the [seventy-fifth]
sixtieth meridian of longitude west of Greenwich, commonly
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called [eastern] Atlantic standard time, shall be the sole and
uniform legal standard of time throughout this Commonwealth; and
on and after the date aforesaid all days shall everywhere be
taken to begin and end in accordance with said standard; and
every mention of, or reference to, any hour or time in any and
all existing future acts of Assembly, municipal ordinances, and
corporate bylaws, in any and all existing or future rules or
regulations adopted by any public officer or official board, in
any and all rules of the courts of the Commonwealth or any of
them, whether standing or special, and whether now in force or
hereafter to be promulgated, in any and all orders, judgments
and decrees of said courts of any of them, and judgments and
sentences of magistrates pronounced or entered on or after the
date aforesaid, in any and all contracts, deeds, wills, and
notices, and in the transaction of all matters of business,
public, legal, commercial, or otherwise,--shall be construed
with reference to, and in accordance with, the said standard
hereby adopted, unless a different standard is therein expressly
provided for: Provided, however, That this act shall not operate
to impose upon any person any forfeiture of rights, or subject
him to the consequences of any default, by reason of any
failure, occurring prior to the date aforesaid, to comply with
the requirement of, or do any act under or in pursuance of any
law, ordinance, contract, notice, deed, will, regulation, rule,
order, judgment, sentence, or decree, if such person shall,
before the said date, have properly done the act or acts which
would be requisite to save such forfeiture or prevent such
default had this law not been enacted: And provided, further,
That when the standard time shall be advanced, for any portion
of the year, by any act of Congress, now in force or hereafter
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passed, the time so fixed by such act of Congress shall be the
standard time of this Commonwealth for such portion of the year:
And provided, That no county, city, borough, town, township, or
other municipal subdivision of the Commonwealth shall, by
ordinance, resolution, or rule, adopt a different standard of
time for any year, or any portion of the year, than that herein
provided; and all ordinances, resolutions and rules heretofore
adopted, contrary to this proviso, are declared to be void and
of no effect.
[(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the
standard of time in this State, between 2 o'clock antemeridian
on the last Sunday in April and 2 o'clock antemeridian on the
last Sunday in October of each year, shall be one hour in
advance of that prescribed above, commonly known as daylight
saving time.]
Section 3. If more than one state contiguous to the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania enacts a law directing a state
official to request the United States Secretary of
Transportation to place that state in the Atlantic time zone,
the Governor shall transmit a similar request on behalf of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Section 4. If the United States Secretary of Transportation
approves the request of the Governor, the Governor shall
transmit a notice to the Legislative Reference Bureau for
publication in the next available issue of the Pennsylvania
Bulletin.
Section 5. The amendment of section 1(b) of the act shall
apply to calendar years beginning on and after the effective
date of this section.
Section 6. This act shall take effect as follows:
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(1) The amendment of section 1(a) of the act shall take
effect on the first Sunday in November following publication
of the notice required under section 4 of this act.
(2) The amendment of section 1(b) of the act shall take
effect on the Monday after the last Sunday in October
following the effective date of this section.
(3) The remainder of this act shall take effect
immediately.
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