Tired of Time Change? Congress Has Renewed Interest to End Daylight Saving Time
Senators voted unanimously last March on making daylight saving time permanent in the U.S. but when it got to the House it stalled, but now Representatives have a renewed interest in stopping time change.
The proposal to make daylight saving time permanent is called the Sunshine Protection Act and it was re-introduced earlier this month after it was passed unanimously in the Senate one year ago in March 2022.
The bill has been collecting dust in the House because they have had it since last March but they have not moved on it yet. But if the House passes the bill, it will then go to President Biden's desk for him to sign.
The unanimous passing in the Senate proves the bill has wide support for never having to turn clocks back in the U.S. ever again.
Senator Marco Rubio, R-FL, is the lead sponsor of the bill and had this to say, “Switching in and out of daylight saving time is outdated, and it's only a source of annoyance and confusion. Frankly, it's just dumb, and there's just no other way to say it.”
Twenty states, including Florida, have passed similar legislation to make daylight saving time permanent, but for that to take effect, the bill must be passed by Congress.
The bill allows states to pass their own laws to stick with switching clocks back and forth twice a year or to make daylight saving time permanent.
Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states that don't observe daylight saving time.
Another sponsor of the bill, Senator Patty Murray, D-WA, had this to say, “No more dark afternoons in the winter. No more losing an hour of sleep every spring. We want more sunshine during our most productive waking hours, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Americans want more sunshine and less depression.”
The U.S. first adopted daylight saving time in 1918 to add extra sunlight hours in the summer and to conserve energy after the end of World War I.