Yes on California Proposition 7

November 2018 election

Proposition 7 undoes a 1949 California ballot measure which established Daylight Savings Time as we know it today. If it passes, the Legislature will have the power to change it — probably but not necessarily to Daylight Savings year-round — with a two-thirds vote, if allowed by Congress.

If the 1949 ballot measure hadn’t passed, and instead the Legislature voted to establish DST, we wouldn’t need to vote on this. There are costs and benefits to switching, which legislators are best equipped to weigh.

To be a bit pedantic: Prop 7 is an instructive example when considering whether to vote for a new ballot measure in general. Each new ballot measure creates law which is difficult to undo. It’s worth asking “Is this important enough that Californians 70 years from now should vote to undo it? Or can we leave this decision to the Legislature?”

Vote Yes on Prop 7 to give the Legislature power to make a minor change, power they shouldn’t have been denied.