Why the idea of not changing the clock twice a year might never see daylight

What’s happening with the effort to get rid of Daylight Saving Time and its twice annual clock changing? Not much.

You will still need to set your clock back an hour this Sunday, Nov. 5.

Since 2015, about 30 states have introduced legislation to end the twice yearly changing of clocks, with some states proposing to do it only if neighboring states do the same.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who introduced the Sunshine Protection Act, making Daylight Saving Time permanent, said the change would reduce crime, encourage kids to play outside and lower the risk of heart attacks and car accidents. It passed the Senate in 2022 but hasn’t moved in the House of Representatives.

Even former President Donald Trump tweeted support for making Daylight Saving Time permanent.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports switching to permanent standard time. Research shows that our bodies function best with more sunlight in the morning.

In 2018, more than 4.5 million California voters overwhelmingly approved Prop. 7, a measure supporting permanent standard time. It allowed the state Legislature to adopt one standard time year round with Congressional approval.

In California, a bill unanimously passed through the Assembly but has sat in the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications since. It will need two-thirds approval by the state Legislature, the governor’s signature and approval by the U.S. Congress.

Some are pushing a permanent switch to standard time that has less darkness in the morning.

These charts show the amount of daylight in the morning for three different options: Time change, if daylight saving were year-round and if standard time were year-round.

Our current form of daylight saving came about in 2005, when President George W. Bush extended daylight saving time to last from March through the first Sunday of November.

The change was made official in 2007.

Several studies are critical of the time change because it changes sleep patterns and may give kids less light in the mornings.

The Department of Transportation states that daylight saving does the following:

• Saves energy because people use fewer household appliances and less lighting in the evenings when it’s lighter out and they can spend time outdoors..
• Prevents traffic injuries and fatalities since people are more likely to be traveling when it’s light outside.
• Reduces crime because it gets dark later, so people are less likely to still be outside once the sun goes down and crime rates spike.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures in 2023, at least 29 states considered or are considering legislation related to daylight saving time: Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming.

HB 1422 in Texas passed the House on April 11, which provides that the state will observe daylight saving time year-round, while SB 7 passed the Oklahoma Senate which would establish year-round daylight standard time. Oklahoma also adopted SCR 9—supporting the federal Sunshine Protection Act of 2023.

California and Florida have voted on ending switching the clock but have not passed the bills on to Congress.

Sources: The Associated Press, Timeanddate.com, National Conference of State Legislatures, California Legislature