HB154: HB154 Emergency medical services; designate ambulance services as an essential service

The text of this bill, as substituted by the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, has nothing to do with ambulance services despite the bill's title. Instead, it repeals and rewrites O.C.G.A. § 50-1-10 to address daylight saving time. It creates the 'Georgia Sunshine Protection Act' and lays out legislative findings that extra evening daylight would help commerce, recreation, and family life, and that switching clocks twice a year disrupts sleep, business, transportation, and school schedules. By December 31, 2026, the Governor would have to ask the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to move Georgia into the Atlantic standard time zone. If approved, Georgia would stay on that time year round, skipping the seasonal clock change, unless Congress later allows states to keep daylight saving time year round in the eastern time zone, at which point Georgia would switch to that instead.

• Repeals the current version of O.C.G.A. § 50-1-10 on daylight saving time and replaces it with a new version focused on permanent standard time.
• Names the new law the 'Georgia Sunshine Protection Act' as its official short title.
• Requires the Governor to formally ask the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, by December 31, 2026, to place Georgia in the Atlantic standard time zone.
• Directs that if the federal request is approved, Georgia would observe Atlantic standard time year round instead of switching clocks for daylight saving time.
• Sets up a fallback: if Congress later lets states keep daylight saving time permanently, Georgia would move to observe permanent daylight saving time in the eastern time zone instead.

All Georgia residents and businesses, since the bill changes how clocks are set statewide. It also directly involves the Governor's office, which must submit a formal request to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and depends on federal approval and any future action by the U.S. Congress.

If enacted and approved by federal officials, Georgians would stop changing their clocks twice a year and would instead stay on a fixed time zone year round, altering sunrise and sunset times relative to the rest of the country and potentially affecting schedules for schools, businesses, and travel.

• Section 1 gives the Act its short title, the 'Georgia Sunshine Protection Act.'
• Section 2 repeals the existing O.C.G.A. § 50-1-10 and enacts a new version with legislative findings on the benefits of stable evening daylight and the disruptions caused by switching clocks.
• Subsection (c) requires the Governor to request, by December 31, 2026, that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation place Georgia in the Atlantic standard time zone.
• Subsection (c)(2) states Georgia would observe Atlantic standard time year round if the federal request is approved, exempting the state from the twice-yearly clock change under 15 U.S.C. § 260a.
• Subsection (d) provides that if Congress later authorizes states to keep daylight saving time year round, Georgia would switch to permanent daylight saving time in the eastern time zone instead.
• Section 3 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-23Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
2. 2026-03-23Senate Third Read (Senate)
3. 2026-03-19Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
5. 2026-01-12Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
6. 2025-04-02Senate Tabled (Senate)
7. 2025-03-25Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2025-03-21Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Gary Richardson (R, HD-125)Primary sponsor
• Ruwa Romman (D, HD-097)
• Rob Clifton (R, HD-131)
• Danny Mathis (R, HD-133)
• Victor Anderson (R, HD-010)
• Stan Gunter (R, HD-008)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   172 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #149

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 23, 2026

   45 yea, 5 nay (3 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #788

• daylight saving time
• time zones
• Georgia law
• state government