US Moves Closer to Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent

The US is moving closer to having daylight saving time all year round. Recently, the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act with a vote of 308 to 117, which aims to keep clocks set one hour ahead permanently.

In a post on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump highlighted that the bill could save “hundreds of millions of dollars” for individuals, cities, and states that currently adjust their clocks. He expressed that it’s time for people to stop worrying about the clock changes, calling the biannual switch a “ridiculous, twice yearly production.”

A 2013 estimate from the American Enterprise Institute pegged the “opportunity cost” of changing clocks at around $2 billion, although FactCheck.org points out that this argument is less compelling now with digital clocks that adjust automatically.

Experts have long warned that the clock changes can lead to increased risks of heart attacks, strokes, traffic accidents, and other health issues due to sleep disruption. However, making daylight saving time permanent may not be the ideal fix. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine advocated for permanent standard time in 2022, noting that it aligns better with human circadian biology. Phyllis Zee, a sleep medicine expert, mentioned that during daylight saving time, the shift in light exposure can disrupt our natural rhythms.

If daylight saving time becomes a permanent fixture, sunrise in New York on January 15th would occur at 8:17 AM, with sunset at 5:53 PM. In Seattle, the sun would rise at 8:52 AM and set at 5:45 PM, while Minneapolis would see sunrise at 8:47 AM and sunset at 5:57 PM.

The Sunshine Protection Act now moves to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain, as some Republican lawmakers have expressed doubts about the change. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has previously voiced his opposition, arguing that the “darkness of permanent savings time would be especially harmful for school children and working Americans.”

Some states, like Arizona and Hawaii, have already opted for permanent standard time, meaning they would be exempt from the Sunshine Protection Act. Additionally, nineteen other states, including Alabama, Oregon, Minnesota, and Texas, have passed laws to make daylight saving time permanent, but they cannot implement these changes until federal law allows it.