<Li> Venezuela (No DST) </Li> <P> A Massachusetts commission concluded in 2017 that the benefits of changing to Atlantic Standard Time year - round would outweigh the disadvantages, provided that a majority of northeastern states made the same change . In May 2017, the Maine Senate approved a change to AST, on the condition that there would be a referendum, and that Massachusetts and New Hampshire decided to make the same switch . Also in 2017, the New Hampshire House of Representatives approved a bill in favour of a regional change, but this was voted down by the state's Senate . Similar bills have been put forward in Connecticut and Rhode Island . </P> <P> In Florida, two bills were approved in January 2018 by House and Senate committees, to move most of the state permanently to Atlantic Standard Time (with the panhandle moving to year - round Eastern Standard Time) with no observation of daylight saving time . </P>

Is atlantic time the same as eastern time