California got one small step closer to getting rid of the outdated nuisance that is Daylight Saving Time this week, after a proposal to abolish the tiresome hassle of springing forward/falling back was approved by a Senate committee.

As previously reported, it was San Jose Assemblymember Kansen Chu who proposed that voters should decide if they wanted to keep screwing around with "changing times" or just stay on PST year-round like a civilized society should.

The bill, entitled AB 2496, was approved by a vote of 7-2 by the State Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. According to East County Today, only Anthony Cannella (the Republican rep for Merced and San Benito counties) and Connie Leyva (the Democrat rep for the 20th district, which is basically parts of the Inland Empire) opposed the proposed legislation, which reads:

Existing federal law establishes the standard time of the United States for each of 9 zones and advances the standard time of each zone by one hour during the period commencing at 2 a.m. on the 2nd Sunday of March of each year and ending at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November of each year. Existing state law, the Daylight Saving Time Act, which was adopted as an initiative measure by the voters at the November 8, 1949, special election, provides that the standard time within the state is that which is known, described, and designated by federal law as United States Standard Pacific Time. The act also requires, from 1 a.m. on the last Sunday of April, until 2 a.m. on the last Sunday of October, the standard time within the state to be one hour in advance of United States Standard Pacific Time.

This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish United States Standard Pacific Time as the standard time within the state during the entire year.

But though Chu wants to kill the practice completely, he admits that ultimate decision, should the bill pass, will be with California voters.

"Daylight Saving Time is an institution that has been in place largely without question for more than half a century," Chu says via email. "I think we owe it to the general public to be given the opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not it ought to be continued.”

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the bill stands a solid chance of being on the November ballot. But before it gets there, it'll need to garner a two-thirds majority of both the state assembly and senate, and be signed by Governor Jerry Brown.

But Chu doesn't think that any of that will be a problem, and soon enough we'll be joining Hawaii and most of Arizona as a time-unchanging state.

“California should be leading this change,” to abolish DST, Chu says.

"I cannot believe that anybody would like to do this fall backward, spring forward thing twice a year."

Previously: Bill Seeks To Abolish Daylight Saving Time In California