LEGAL PUBLICATION

Pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 1-1001.16(d)(2)(B)(ii), which provides that the D.C. Board of Elections shall “[s]ubmit the summary statement, short title, legislative form, and, if the measure is an initiative measure, the fiscal impact statement, to … [a]t least one newspaper of general circulation in the District[,], the Board hereby publishes the summary statement, short title, legislative form, and fiscal impact statement1 for Initiative Measure No. 84, the “Time Stability Act of 2025.”

INITIATIVE MEASURE

NO. 84

SHORT TITLE

“Time Stability Act of 2025.”

SUMMARY STATEMENT

If enacted, this Initiative would exempt the District from observing daylight saving time (DST) in accordance with the federal Uniform Time Act, and establish permanent standard time (which would be equivalent to eastern standard time (EST)) year-round beginning Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 2:00 a.m.

LEGISLATIVE TEXT

BE IT ENACTED BY THE ELECTORS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the “Time Stability Act of 2025.”

Sec. 2. Subchapter II of Chapter 27 of Title 28 of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended as

follows:

(a) Section 28-2711 is repealed.

(b) A new section 28-2712 is added to read as follows:

“Sec. 28-2712. Time stability.

“(a) The purpose of this section is to exempt the District from observing daylight saving time

and establish permanent standard time year-round.

“(b) The intent of this section is to improve safety, health, and quality of life for District

residents by eliminating biannual time changes and providing a stable time zone.

“(c) The District shall opt out of observing daylight saving time as permitted by section 3(a)

of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, approved April 13, 1966 (80 Stat. 107; 15 U.S.C. §

260a(a)), and shall establish permanent standard time, equivalent to eastern standard time,

year-round, in accordance with subsection (d) of this section.

“(d) The District government shall implement permanent standard time on Sunday,

November 1, 2026, at 2:00 a.m., thereby opting out of future daylight saving time changes.”.

Sec. 3. Effective date.

This act shall take effect after a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 16(r)(1) of the District of Columbia Election Code of 1955, effective June 7, 1979 (D.C. Law 3-1; D.C. Official Code § 1-1001.16(r)(1)).

Government of the District of Columbia

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Glen Lee

Chief Financial Officer

MEMORANDUM

TO: The Honorable Phil Mendelson Chairman, Council of the District of Columbia

FROM: Glen Lee Chief Financial Officer

DATE: July 10, 2025

SUBJECT: Fiscal Impact Statement – Time Stability Act of 2025

REFERENCE: Ballot Initiative Measure Number 84 as provided to the Office of Revenue Analysis on June 17, 2025

________________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion

Funds are not sufficient in the proposed revised fiscal year 2025 budget and proposed fiscal year 2026 through fiscal year 2029 budget and financial plan to implement the ballot initiative. The ballot initiative would cost $16.5 million in fiscal year 2026.

Background

The ballot initiative measure would exempt the District from observing Daylight Saving Time (DST) and establishes permanent standard time year-round. The District must opt out of observing DST as permitted by the Uniform Time Act of 19662 and must establish permanent standard time, equivalent to Eastern Standard Time, year-round. The District government must implement permanent standard time on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 2:00 a.m.

Financial Plan Impact

Funds are not sufficient in the proposed revised fiscal year 2025 budget and proposed fiscal year 2026 through fiscal year 2029 budget and financial plan to implement the ballot initiative. The ballot initiative would cost $16.5 million in fiscal year 2026.

Eliminating DST in the District would require additional resources to modify and test Information Technology (IT) systems, complete a public awareness campaign, and resolve operational issues and cross-jurisdictional synchronization issues with regional partners.

The District of Columbia uses at least ninety IT systems across multiple agencies to support the government’s day-to-day operations. Many of these IT systems will need to be modified to update time zone logic, hardcoded DST rules, and timestamping functions to maintain standard time year-round. Once modified, these systems will need to be tested on an ongoing basis to ensure full functionality and minimize service degradation.

The amount of resources needed to update IT systems varies significantly depending on the type of system. Small systems, such as the Public Library Catalog System or Parks Facility Reservation system, will require fewer resources than large systems which will need to be hard coded, such as the Computer Aided Dispatch System, PeopleSoft, the District Integrated Financial System, Traffic Signal Management System, and District of Columbia Access System. Some agencies may be able to complete modifications with existing resources or contracts, while others will require full-time staff to manage and implement system modifications. In some instances, contract modifications may be necessary to reprogram certain systems. The cost of reprogramming IT systems can range from $50,000 for smaller systems to $1 million for larger systems. The total one-time cost of modifying and testing IT systems across the District is estimated to be $16 million in fiscal year 2026

The District must also complete a public awareness campaign to notify the public and stakeholders of the elimination of DST. The public awareness campaign will include paid media advertisements, translation services, community events, and digital resources. The total one-time cost of this awareness campaign is $500,000 in fiscal year 2026.

The District will also need to overcome operational issues and cross-jurisdictional synchronization issues with regional and federal partners since its time will be misaligned with the entire eastern time zone for half of the year. Several District agencies, such as the Child and Family Services Agency, Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, and Office of State Superintendent of Education, provide services that extend across jurisdictional boundaries. Regional partnerships such as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority operate across multiple jurisdictions that will be affected by eliminating DST. The District’s court system is operated by the federal government, which would still observe DST. Sorting out scheduling conflicts and coordinating cross-jurisdictional program logistics will require resources that are not quantifiable at this time.

1The fiscal impact statement was issued on July 10, 2025, prior to the date the Board adopted the formulations for Initiative Measure No. 84.

2 Approved April 13, 1966 (80 Stat. 107; 15 U.S.C. § 260a(a)).