On 9/23/2026 7:40 PM, Guy Harris wrote:
(Well, at least as I read the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 - https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/139/text - Pacific Time/Pacific Standard Time just becomes UTC-07:00 all year around, so we won't call it PCT, I guess it's PDT all year around. Damn. I *like* PCT, although, to be fair, not everybody's close to the coast.)
The US law is very clear. The existing "Standard Time" names remain and all nine zones are changed to different offsets. PST = UTC-07.
There is no effective date in the current bill (so effective immediately unless the senate changes it and sends it back to the house).
The other major problem I see is with areas that do not follow DST. They are allowed under the proposal to remain on current standard time. BUT those definitions go away (with basically a "see previous version of this law"). I consider that awkward. Puerto Rico currently following AST defined as UTC-04, the new law says AST is now UTC-03. Puerto Rico can continue to follow AST defined as UTC-04. Messy.
I would like to see the bill modified with a good effective date (November 2027?) and possibly fix the naming (less likely).
I'd also like to see a senate vote on the bill instead of one senator blocking all efforts to make this change. A senator from a state where the state legislature has voted in favor of permanent DST.
Back to BC, I wonder if PCT will become common use, but we'll see.
