When the clocks roll forward Sunday evening, the bill on whether daylight saving time becomes permanent pops up into people’s discussions. These time changes are a year-around occurrence and have ignited an annual battle between who believes it is time for a nation-wide lock-down in either daylight saving or standard time.
Marco Rubio has made it an ongoing crusade, several years of “Sunshine Protection Act” proposed legislation has crossed his desk. Although it was passed in the Senate in 2022, it remains stalled in the House and this time transition remains the same for now.
States continue their efforts to adopt permanent daylight time transition with more than 19 resolutions passed already, pending approval from the federal government. Recently, Oklahoma joined the list by passing a law to make the shift if Congress agrees to it.
Many states have linked their policies to those of their neighbors: Delaware’s decision to go along with permanent daylight saving time puts pressure on Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, for example. Others, Arizona and Hawaii, yake the opposite tack and dispense with this saving altogether, observing standard time year-round, which is permissible under current federal law.
Why daylight saving time is important?
According to experts, the twice-a-year clock change is linked with a whole range of health problems because it disturbs the circadian rhythms. Setting clocks forward in March was associated with increased heart attacks and car crashes, a burden not insignificant on the human body. Advocates of permanent daylight saving are trying to push for that for longer evening daylight but Dr. Erik Herzog at Washington University and others point out that there is an important health benefit from morning light.
Efforts to make daylight saving time permanent are not new. During WWII and again in 1974, the U.S. tried year-round daylight saving time, only to roll it back as dark winter mornings proved unpopular with the public. For now, it remains as it is, though states and federal lawmakers continue the debate over its future.