While John Tibbetts, owner of Art's Watch and Jewelry Sales & Service, doesn't have a strong opinion either way on whether the state should abolish time changes, he says some of his customers would be happy if most of Oregon remained on permanent daylight-saving time.

Each year, during the week of the time changes in March and November, a string of about 25 to 30 frustrated customers, holding both analog and digital watches, come into his store and seek help to get their watches to show the correct time.

"People would say, 'Oh great, I don't have to go see him to fix my watch,' " Tibbetts said if the change occurred.

Oregon is another step closer to making daylight-saving time effective year-round.

"Spring forward" and "fall back" would become a remnant of the past for most Oregonians if the state's West Coast neighbors, California and Washington, do the same and Congress approves, under a bill Gov. Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 320 into law Monday.

If and when that happens, under the new law, most Oregonians would not adjust their clocks, or "fall back," one hour during a future Sunday morning in November and would permanently remain on daylight-saving time, which means residents will see less daylight in the morning and more in the evening. Residents in the portion of Malheur County that are in the Mountain Time Zone would continue to change their clocks.

The new law would expire on Dec. 1, 2029, if Oregon hasn't moved to permanent daylight-saving by then.

Washington state lawmakers already have passed a similar law, and a bill is making its way through the California Legislature.

Federal law prohibits states from permanently remaining on daylight-saving time, which the Oregon Legislature, as a body, has urged Congress to allow states to do.

In their joint request, Oregon lawmakers noted the biannual time changes has negative impacts on public health, including greater risks of heart attacks, increased suicide rates and more frequent workplace injuries; increases in traffic accidents and crime; disruption of agriculture scheduling; and hindering economic growth.

Dr. Patrick Luedtke, the county's senior public health officer, said it's difficult to predict if moving to permanent daylight-saving time will represent a net positive or negative on Oregonians' health as individuals react differently to time changes.

He recalled his past work as a Navy doctor serving overseas and observing service members who were both unaffected and affected by time changes.

"I think there will be some net positives if these three states go that way, and mostly in the acute area of both heart disease and (reducing) some injuries at work, and some challenges with the changes in the daylight" increasing pedestrian-vehicle collisions.

The United States used daylight-saving time periodically during World War I and II to save energy and promote outdoor activity. Congress standardized the practice in 1966 but only allowed states to exempt themselves if they did not want to honor daylight-saving time. Hawaii and Arizona, with the exception of the Navajo Nation, do not observe daylight-saving time.

More than two dozen states have introduced legislation ending the practice of twice-yearly time changes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Follow Christian Hill on Twitter @RGchill. Email christian.hill@registerguard.com.