House Advances Bill to End Daylight Saving Time Clock Changes
Is Daylight Saving about to become permanent? A new piece of legislation has cleared a major hurdle in Congress, potentially ending the twice-yearly ritual of changing the clocks. Read on for what is next.
House Passes Bill to Make Daylight Saving Permanent
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure on Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent. Should the bill clear the necessary roadblocks, it would mean Americans would no longer have to switch their clocks twice a year.
With the passing in the House, the bill is now headed to the Senate. Known as the Sunshine Protection Act, the bill would move most of the U.S. to year-round daylight saving time permanently. The only exceptions would be in the jurisdictions that are already on standard time.
The act is sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Republican representing the state of Florida. The bill would effectively make daylight saving permanent by repealing the temporary daylight saving period, thereby advancing standard time by one hour.
Like most pieces of legislation, the Sunshine Protection Act has its fair share of supporters and opponents. Washington Sen. Patty Murray is calling on her Senate colleagues to act quickly and bring the bill to the floor for passage. Murray has long been in the camp of wanting daylight saving time to become permanent. The Democrat noted that her home state of Washington often sees the sun set before 4 pm in the winter under the current practice.
President Donald Trump also supports the bill, calling the twice-annual changing of the clocks "inconvenient" and "very costly." Should the measure pass the Senate, it is likely to be signed into law by the president. Assuming that it takes effect on December 1 as outlined, most areas of the country would not fall back to standard time in November. Instead, most of the U.S. would remain on what people know as daylight time.
Downsides of Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent
Despite enjoying support from several key lawmakers, there is still division in Congress about whether daylight saving time should become permanent. Opponents of the idea raised questions in the House this week about safety concerns with darker winter mornings. Although Americans would enjoy more sunlight in the evening hours during the winter, that would come at the expense of a later start to the sunlight during the early morning hours. This concern is particularly worrisome for school children who have to wait for the bus in the dark.
Other lawmakers have pointed to medical research noting that the change could severely disrupt sleep patterns. However, a recent Stanford Medicine analysis found that picking one time and sticking to it is healthier than changing the clocks twice each year. Seasonal clock changes have been shown repeatedly to disrupt the body's natural circadian rhythms.
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