Governor Brian Kemp has signed Senate Bill 100, which provides that Georgia “shall observe daylight savings time year round as the standard time of the entire state”.

Republican lawmaker Wes Cantrell, who sponsored the bill, told WSB-TV: “Criminals like the cloak of darkness, so they have one less hour in the evening to commit their crimes.”

The bill still needs further approval from the US Congress, which has historically been reluctant to approve bills to make daylight savings time permanent.