SALT LAKE CITY — Utah voters won't get to weigh in on whether Utah should exempt itself from daylight saving time.
HB78, a bill to allow election officials to place nonbinding opinion questions on the ballot, failed on the House floor by a narrow 34-36 vote.
That's after a House committee earlier this month voted down a proposed resolution that would have put the issue of daylight saving time on the 2018 ballot.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, urged lawmakers to seek a broader opinion from their constituents to put the issue to rest.
"I propose we do this because I want to hear once and for all what our citizens think," Thurston said.
Citing greater incidences of mental and physical health issues caused by the stress of adjusting to the time change twice a year, Thurston said voters should have the chance to weigh in on the issue.
Then, he said, lawmakers could take that information and decide what to do.
"How can you say I am for or against this when you don't know or won't listen to your constituents?" Thurston asked his fellow lawmakers.
Rep. Merrill Nelson, R-Grantsville, voted against the bill, saying it would set a "dangerous precedent" that the Legislature would turn to the voters whenever they become "stumped."
The vote came after opposition by the Utah Farm Bureau and a representative of a golfing alliance. The groups told legislators in previous committee meetings that the extra hour of daylight during the summer is crucial for their industries.