Daylight Saving Time: Time to Stop Changing the Clocks?

Now that we’ve “sprung forward” to Daylight Saving Time with our clocks this month, there’s a chance it will be the last time.

Each year on the second Sunday in March we set our clocks forward one hour, which starts Daylight Saving Time. Then, on the first Sunday in November, we set our clocks back one hour, which ends DST and we return to Standard Time. Many Americans — from farmers to scientists — disliked the twice-yearly time reset.

So the effort to end it started in 2022 when the Senate passed a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. But, like most things in Congress in recent years, it didn’t pass in the House of Representatives and died.

Leave Clocks Alone

According to one study, 7 out of 10 Americans today do not want to change their clocks and think it’s a bad idea.

Here’s the catch: Not everyone agrees on whether the clocks should stay on standard time (the clock defined by the sun) or stay on DST (darker mornings, but brighter evenings).

A CBS News poll in March 2022 found that:

• 33% preferred standard time all year
• 46% of U.S. residents preferred daylight saving time all year
• 21% were okay with continuing to switch times twice a year.

The 2022 Monmouth poll found that:

• 13% preferred standard time all year
• 44% of U.S. residents preferred daylight saving time all year
• 35% were okay with continuing to switch times twice a year.

So almost half of the respondents want to stick with a single year-round time and prefer more light in the evenings (44%), while only about 13% prefer the earlier sunrise that comes with standard time. 

The number of Americans who want to stop resetting the time and also want to make DST permanent has been increasing steadily over the decades.

Federal Uniform Time Act

In March 2022, the Senate passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent. But, the 1966 federal Uniform Time Act allows permanent standard time, but not permanent DST.

The U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act (S.623), which would have established permanent Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. starting in November 2023. To the surprise of many, the act was passed by unanimous voice consent.

However, since federal law does not currently allow year-round DST, the Sunshine Protection Act needed to be passed by the House and then the President. In June 2022, the U.S. House had failed to pass the bill, which expired in December 2022. To be considered again, it will have to be reintroduced.

A revised version of the Sunshine Protection Act (S.582) was introduced in 2023 in the U.S. Senate. To date, it hasn’t moved out of committee.

According to The National Conference of State Legislators, state legislatures have considered at least 450 bills and resolutions in recent years to establish year-round daylight saving time as soon as federal law allows it.

In the last five years, 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions to provide year-round daylight saving time if Congress allowed it.

But, so far Congress hasn’t acted.

Source: https://www.almanac.com/