WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is a good chance this week felt long - not because of what you did at work, but because of that lost hour from when most Americans set their clocks forward last weekend.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed a measure to make Daylight Saving Time permanent across the country and stop the twice-a-year clock changes.
In the days since, what do the prospects look like for whether it will actually become law?
SINCE THE VOTE
Many were taken aback by the Senate vote this week, especially since the outcome was unanimous with limited floor debate.
Currently only Arizona and Hawaii stay on one time all year.
For a bill to become law not only does it have to pass the Senate, it has to pass the house and then be signed by the President.
Right now there is a big question mark regarding whether this can pass in the House and even more questions about whether President Joe Biden would sign it.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did endorse the idea after the Senate vote. However, the White House has not.
IMPORTANT PERSPECTIVE
There is some important perspective to this debate.
On Christmas Morning 2022, if the country stayed in daylight saving time, the sun would rise in some places at a manageable hour, but in other places, it would not.
In San Diego and Las Vegas, it would rise around 7:50 local time.
However, it wouldn’t rise until 8:50 a.m. local time in Salt Lake City.
It wouldn’t rise until 8:59 a.m or so in Detroit.
In Indianapolis, it wouldn't rise until 9:04 a.m.
In fact, many American cities wouldn’t see the sun until 8:15 a.m. -8:45 a.m. during most of December and January.
History also provides important perspective.
President Richard Nixon actually made Daylight Saving Time permanent back in the 1970s, but it only took a few weeks of early morning accidents for Congress to change the policy.
“It’s time to recognize that we may well have made a mistake,” former U.S. Senator Dick Clark said in a speech to Congress. It was repealed a few months after it was enacted.
If this does actually become law, it wouldn’t take effect until 2023. Lobbying will likely intensify in the coming months from groups that are for and against the change.
That means at the very least we still have a few more clock changes ahead.
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