Joint Committee on Economic Development & Emerging Technologies Bill Summary

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BILL NUMBER Senate No., 2040

TITLE Resolve An Act relative to studying the impacts of changing the

Massachusetts time zone (sic).

SPONSOR Senator John F. Keenan, (BY REQUEST)

HEARING DATE November 11, 2015 at 1:00pm; Holyoke Community College

LEGISLATIVE

HISTORY

New bill.

SUMMARY

This bill would create a special commission to study the practical, economic and health-related

impacts of changing the Massachusetts time zone from the eastern time zone to the Atlantic

standard time zone. The study would focus on the impact of a time zone change to local and

regional economies, public education, public health, transportation, energy consumption,

commerce and trade.

The special commission would consist of 8 members:

the senate chair of the joint committee on economic development and emerging

technologies, or a designee, who shall serve as co-chair of the commission;

the house chair of the joint committee on public health, or a designee, who shall serve as

co-chair of the commission;

the senate chair of the joint committee on transportation, or a designee;

the house chair of the joint committee on education, or a designee;

the secretary of the executive office of education, or a designee;

the undersecretary of the office of consumer affairs and business regulation, or a

designee;

the secretary of health and human services, or a designee; and

the secretary of transportation, or a designee.

Pursuant to this bill, the special commission would convene its first meeting on or before January

1, 2016, and would submit its final report, along with any recommendations for legislative

reforms, no later than January 1, 2017. This report would be filed with the clerks of the Senate

and the House of Representatives, and copies of the report would be forwarded to the House and

Senate chairs of the Joint Committees on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies,

Public Health and Education.

The special commission would be dissolved within 180 days after the submission of the final

commission report.