A group of U.S. Senators from both parties have submitted a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent throughout most of the US.
Currently, DST is observed from March through November in most of the US, except for most of Arizona and Hawaii. Under the proposal, Arizona would be in the Pacific time zone all year, and Hawaii would be six hours behind the eastern time zone. The bill would also eliminate the need to change clocks twice a year.
The legislation, if approved, would give most of America additional evening daylight in the winter months, but would reduce the amount of morning sunlight during daylight standard time. Five Republican and three Democratic senators are co-sponsoring the legislation.
Fifteen states have passed bills to move to year-round daylight saving time, but the federal government would have to agree to the changes.
“The call to end the antiquated practice of clock changing is gaining momentum throughout the nation,” Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said. “Studies have shown many benefits of a year-round Daylight Saving Time, which is why the Florida legislature voted to make it permanent in 2018. I’m proud to reintroduce this bipartisan bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, and give our nation’s families more stability throughout the year.”
“Americans’ lifestyles are very different than they were when daylight saving time began more than a century ago,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said. “Making Daylight Saving Time permanent will end the biannual disruptions to daily life and give families more daylight hours to enjoy after work and school.”
Governments implemented daylight saving time as a measure to conserve energy. While Americans conserve some energy in the evening with more daylight, research has found that the benefit is negated by increased energy usage in the morning.
President Richard Nixon implemented year-round daylight saving time in 1974 as America was affected by an energy shortage. The act ended in 1975 as Congress established a standard practice for daylight saving time, allowing for winter mornings to have more daylight, so more people could go to work and school in the daylight.
This year, the date to change clocks is Sunday, March 14th, at 2 a.m.
