By DAVID WILLIAMS
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
When it comes to time zones, Indiana is a state divided.
Several counties in the state’s southwest and northwest corners are in the Central time zone.
One lawmaker wants the entire Hoosier state in the Central time zone.
Almost every Hoosier has an opinion about whether the state should be on Eastern or Central time, or just stay divided.
“I personally would prefer Central time,” Daventry Burroughs said. “It’s just something I’ve always been used to.”
Shante Herron said she feels differently. “I think Eastern time is cool.”
Even some people in the same family don’t agree. Harron’s sister Denise Smith said, “I think Central. It would be better. It would be more focused.”
“We’re in the Midwest, not the mid-East or the East,” state Sen. Eric Bassler, a Republican from Washington, Ind., said. “From a rational perspective, we should be in the Central time zone.”
Earlier this year, a different state lawmaker, Republican Greg Walker from Columbus, tried to get Indiana completely within the Central time zone, but that measure failed.
Bassler has thought about it for years. Now, he’s working on a bill that would ask Gov. Eric Holcomb to request that the federal government put all of Indiana within the Central time zone.
Annie Stewart said, “I would really like that.” Stewart told us she also prefers that Indiana be on part of the Central time zone.
Since the 1960s, Indiana’s dividing Eastern time zone line has gradually moved West.
Bassler argued the state is more closely aligned with Chicago than Washington, D.C., or New York City. “To think we have to somehow be tied to New York because of the stock market or the bond market, or to Washington, D.C., because of the politics or the federal government just doesn’t make sense.”
So how does an area move from one time zone to another? The U.S. Department of Transportation says under federal law, the U.S. Transportation secretary may issue regulations making changes.
Another way: Congress can get involved with a statute, but the Department of Transporation website said the latter has not happened in more than 60 years.