It's time to write the daylight-saving time column again.

Only this year, it's different.

In the past, it has had no hope of passing. This year, I think there's a glimmer.

But it's close.

Apparently, there are still a significant number of lawmakers unwilling to be dragged into sync with the rest of the free world.

In fact, the Indiana House of Representatives is so narrowly divided on the issue, a planned Thursday vote had to be delayed because a couple Republicans were absent.

In their absence, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Gerald Torr, R-Carmel, wasn't sure he had enough votes to get the bill out of the House.

He figures he'll have the votes Monday or Tuesday.

And according to the Indianapolis Star, several other lawmakers, including House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, were sick Thursday, but came to the House anyway because they knew their votes would be needed if the bill was going to pass.

The deadline for House passage for the bill to move on to the Senate is Tuesday.

And there is optimism that if it passes the House, it will become law.

This is the first time since 1995 DST legislation has made it to the full floor of either chamber. It failed to clear the House that year and has not been voted on by the Senate since 1983, when it was soundly defeated 46-4.

But Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, Wednesday told the Associated Press that he would not assign the DST bill to a committee with 'the purpose of blocking the bill.'

He added that if it cleared a Senate committee, his 'sentiment right now is it will pass the Senate."

You know what, I think that's a good thing.

Sometimes I think Indiana's failure to follow the lead of 47 other states and most of the rest of the free world is starting to make us look, well, stupid.

Some people argue Indiana is the only smart state for not fooling with clocks twice a year.

Everybody else is stupid, they say.

I just don't buy that.

Consider the way it is in Indiana now.

We have three different time zones in this state.

1. Seventy-seven counties (including state capital Indianapolis) are in the Eastern Time Zone but do not change to Daylight time in April; instead they remain on Standard Time all year long.

2. Ten counties - five near Chicago, and five near Evansville - are in the Central Time Zone and use both Central Standard and Central Daylight.

3. Five other counties - two near Cincinnati, Ohio, and three near Louisville, Ky. - are in the Eastern Time Zone but use both Eastern Standard and Eastern Daylight.

So when the rest of civilization is observing Eastern Standard time, it's noon in Indy, 11 a.m. in Hammond and noon in New Albany.

When the rest of civilization is observing DST, its noon in Indy, noon in Hammond and 1 p.m. in New Albany.

Now there.

That makes lots of sense.

Sarcasm aside, time is an important issue.

Indiana's dogged determination to remain in the Stone Ages of time technology essentially shortens the business day to seven hours for companies doing business in adjacent time zones.

It really does make a difference.

Scott Jones is the former chairman of TechNet Indiana. A few years back, he wrote a piece for a group of Hoosiers in favor of DST.

I used this same material in a 2001 column on DST and it still rings true today.

Jones writes, "When 47 other states began to practice DST and most of Indiana didn't, we placed ourselves on a unique 'island.' We got out of sync with the rest of the country, and for customers, airlines, shipping companies and others trying to communicate with us, we created a self-imposed handicap for businesses located here and those trying to do business here."

And, he notes, "For most Americans, and people in 70 other countries, the difference between what time it is in their hometown and what time it is across the country in their daughter's dorm room or their customer's office is a constant and predictable one. It's always one hour later in Charlotte than it is in Chicago. It's always two hours earlier in Denver than it is in Boston. This predictability facilitates commerce, and that's very important. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Indiana."

And that's not all.

DST saves energy. Based on consumption figures for 1974 and 1975, The Department of Transportation says observing Daylight Saving Time in March and April saves the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day - a total of 600,000 barrels in each of those two years.

This, ostensibly, was reason the federal government initiated DST in the first place. During the Arab-Israeli War in 1973, OPEC issued an embargo against the sale of crude oil to Israel's Western allies. Gasoline became scarce in the U.S. and prices jumped 40 percent. After that, Congress put most of the nation on extended DST for two years in hopes of saving additional energy. The experiment worked.

And of course I have my own selfish reasons for being in favor of DST.

It essentially makes my day an hour longer. That's why they call it "daylight-saving."

Why would I want it to be light at 4:30 a.m.? I don't want an extra hour of daylight before work.

I want that extra hour of daylight after work when I can enjoy it. More time for fishing, boating, golf, barbecues, summer walks - you get the picture.

Selfish reasons aside, the business argument makes total sense to me, especially in the high-tech, global economy of today.

If we want to get in sync with the rest of the country we need to change to DST. [[In-content Ad]]