Current:Home > MarketsPermanent daylight saving time? Politicians keep trying to make it a reality. -AssetVision
Permanent daylight saving time? Politicians keep trying to make it a reality.
View
Date:2025-04-14 22:58:50
Americans are yet again preparing for the twice-yearly ritual of adjusting the clocks by an hour, and a group of politicians are sick of it.
Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio have used the upcoming time change to remind Americans about the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act the U.S. Senate unanimously passed in 2022 to make daylight saving time permanent. The bill was reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2023. Scott said in Friday a release the bill is supported by both lawmakers and Americans.
"It’s time for Congress to act and I’m proud to be leading the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act with Senator Rubio to get this done," Scott said.
Most Americans - 62% - are in favor of ending the time change, according to an Economist/YouGov poll from last year.
To Change or Not to Change:Do Americans like daylight saving time? 6 in 10 want to stop changing their clocks. Do you?
Only Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation), Hawaii and the U.S. territories follow standard time yearound. In the rest of the country, standard time runs from the first Sunday of November until the second Sunday of March. But clocks spring forward an hour from March to November to allow for more daylight during summer evenings.
Federal law prevents states from following daylight saving time permanently.
Rubio's bill failed to make it to President Joe Biden's desk in 2022. Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan, R- Brandon, introduced the act in the House last March for the current congressional session.
"We’re ‘springing forward’ but should have never ‘fallen back.’ My Sunshine Protection Act would end this stupid practice of changing our clocks back and forth," Rubio said in a Tuesday release.
Time change bills across America
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 28 bills have been introduced this year regarding daylight saving time and 36 carried over from the previous legislative session.
About two dozen states are considering enacting permanent daylight saving time if Congress allowed such a change. Twenty other states have legislation under consideration to have permanent standard time.
Several states, NCSL said, have legislation dependent on their neighbors following the same time change.
We've tried this before, and it didn't go well
Daylight saving time was made official in 1918 when the Standard Time Act became law, but it was quickly reversed at the national level after World War I ended, only coming up again when World War II began. Since then, Americans have tried eliminating the biannual time change, but it didn't last long.
From February 1942 until September 1945, the U.S. took on what became known as "War Time," when Congress voted to make daylight saving time year-round during the war in an effort to conserve fuel. When it ended, states were able to establish their own standard time until 1966 when Congress finally passed the Uniform Time Act, standardizing national time and establishing current-day daylight saving time.
Most recently, amid an energy crisis in 1973, former President Richard Nixon signed a bill putting the U.S. on daylight saving time starting in January 1974. While the American public at first liked the idea, soon "the experiment ... ran afoul of public opinion," The New York Times reported in October 1974. Sunrises that could be as late as 9:30 a.m. some places in parts of winter became increasingly unpopular. It didn't take long for Congress to reverse course in October 1974.
Today, the public seems ready for another change, fed up with disruptions to sleep and routines, which research has suggested can contribute to health issues and even safety problems. For now, prepare to reset your clocks, and your sleep schedules, once again this Sunday.
Contributing: Celina Tebor, Emily DeLetter USA TODAY; USA TODAY Network-Florida
veryGood! (73737)
Related
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Russia will consider property confiscations for those convicted of discrediting the army
- Kanye West debuts metal teeth: 'Experimental dentistry' didn't involve removing his real teeth
- A reported Israeli airstrike on Syria destroys a building used by Iranian paramilitary officials
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- Young girls are flooding Sephora in what some call an 'epidemic.' So we talked to their moms.
- '1980s middle school slow dance songs' was the playlist I didn't know I needed
- Why is Ravens TE Mark Andrews out vs. Texans? Latest on three-time Pro Bowler's injury status
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- Lamar Jackson has failed to find NFL playoff success. Can Ravens QB change the narrative?
Ranking
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Hostage families protest outside Netanyahu’s home, ramping up pressure for a truce-for-hostages deal
- Real Housewives of New Jersey Star Melissa Gorga Shares Cozy Essentials To Warm Up Your Winter
- Sen. Tim Scott to endorse Trump at New Hampshire rally on Friday, days before crucial primary
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Amid tough reelection fight, San Francisco mayor declines to veto resolution she criticized on Gaza
- Attorneys argue woman is innocent in 1980 killing and shift blame to former Missouri police officer
- Opinion: George Carlin wasn't predictable, unlike AI
Recommendation
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Texas child only survivor of 100 mph head-on collision, police say
Prince Harry drops libel lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher
California governor sacks effort to limit tackle football for kids
2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
Reformed mobster went after ‘one last score’ when he stole Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from ‘Oz’
Nikki Haley has spent 20 years navigating Republican Party factions. Trump may make that impossible
‘Access Hollywood’ tape of Trump won’t be shown to jury at defamation trial, lawyer says