Will daylight saving time be permanent in 2023?

1 year ago 5

It was one year ago this week that the U.S. Senate voted to make daylight saving time permanent, but the plan stalled in the House.

WASHINGTON — With daylight saving time now underway across the United States, many are wondering whether this will be the year it becomes permanent and we stop the twice yearly time change.

One year ago Wednesday the U.S. Senate voted to approve a measure that would make daylight saving time permanent. However, it never came up for a vote in the House after stalling out in a committee.

And now that a new Congress convened in January, the legislative process to "lock the clock" has to start back over again.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023 and Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan introduced companion legislation in the House. As of now, it's unclear whether either proposal will go up for a vote this year.

Daylight saving time is defined as a period between spring and fall when clocks in most parts of the country are set one hour ahead of standard time. Standard time lasts for roughly four months in most of the country.

Members of Congress have long been interested in the potential benefits and costs of daylight saving time since it was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942.

A poll conducted in October 2021 found that most people in the United States want to avoid switching between daylight saving and standard time, though there is no consensus behind which should be used all year.

Many states have passed measures to stay on daylight saving time permanently — a move that some have called "lock the clock." For some states, they're willing to go forward with it as long as a few of their neighbors do the same.

In the last five years, 19 states have passed legislation or resolutions supporting year-round daylight saving time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.