One of the first measures introduced in this year’s Nebraska Legislature is a resolution urging Congress to move the dividing line between the time zones in the state so that only the 11 Panhandle counties would be in the Mountain time zone.
The resolution by District 44 Senator Teresa Ibach of Sumner and co-sponsored by 5 other senators, including Tom Brewer of Gordon, would affect 8 counties: Cherry, Grant, Hooker, Arthur, Keith, Perkins, Chase, and Dundy.
The western 2/3rds of Cherry and all of the other 7 counties are currently in the Mountain Time Zone.
Senator Ibach’s resolution says “changing all the counties located east of the Panhandle to the Central time zone would create greater consistency for commerce, transportation, and communication.”
It also argues the move would create a “uniformity that would impact education, recreation, healthcare, and religious worship in positive ways as well as benefit the general Nebraska economy.”
Only the federal government can change the location of a time zone, a process that requires either legislation by Congress or a regulation from the Dept of Transportation