Newsman: The United State Senate has unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would permanently extend daylight saving time (DST) .If it is enacted as no senator opposed the legislation, Americans would no longer need to change their clocks twice a year. It would make daylight saving time permanent in the U.S. starting next year from eight months of the year to the full 12 months. The Sunshine Protection Act, was passed by unanimous consent on Tuesday, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona, was serving as acting Senate president during the process,.
However, the bill would still need to pass the House and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law. The last time the U.S. tried year-round daylight saving was the 1970s. Within a year, it was scrapped.
Daylight saving time started in the U.S. in 1918 to create more daylight hours during warmer months. It was extended by four weeks starting in 2007. States are not required to follow daylight saving time — Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe it.
The bill was first introduced in January 2021 and reintroduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and seven other bipartisan members of Congress last March.
Sen. Marco Rubio on Tuesday targeted the “ritual of changing the clock back and forth, and the disruption that comes with it.”
“And one has to ask themselves after a while, ‘Why do we keep doing it? Why are we doing this?’” he said.
Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Florida, who introduced the House bill last year, told USA TODAY Tuesday he would send a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, asking for immediate consideration of the bill.
“There are enormous health and economic benefits to making daylight saving time permanent,” Buchanan said. “Florida and 17 other states have already moved to adopt (DST) year-round but cannot do so without congressional approval. It’s time to end the antiquated practice of changing our clocks twice a year.”
Sen. Rubio said DST began in 1918 “as a practice that was supposed to save energy, and since then we’ve adjusted it.” Initially running for six months, DST now lasts eight months, “clearly showing you where people’s preference (is),” he said.
“I think the majority of the American people’s preference is just to stop the back and forth changing,” Rubio said. “But beyond that, I think their preference is – certainly at least based on today’s vote, and what we’ve heard – is to make daylight saving time permanent.”
Over the last four years, at least 18 states have passed laws to permanently switch to daylight saving time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, though federal law must first be changed to allow it.
