Did the Sunlight Protection Act pass? Congress reintroduces daylight saving time bill
Since 2018, Congress has been mulling the idea of making Daylight Saving Time permanent. Its loudest proponent has called on lawmakers to finally act.
Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Vern Buchanan have been sponsoring legislation to make daylight saving time permanent in the United States since 2018. Their efforts finally gained traction in 2022 when the Sunshine Protection Act passed the Senate. However, the House never took up a vote on the proposed legislation before the 117th Congress was dismissed for good.
Not to be deterred, the bill was reintroduced in 2023 in each of their respective chambers when a new Congress was sworn in. “This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid. Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support,” Rubio said at the time. “This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done.”
However, a year on and the matter has not yet been debated in either the House or the Senate stuck in committee in each chamber. As the switchover to daylight saving time approached, once again the Senator from Florida called on his colleagues on Capitol Hill to act.
“We’re ‘springing forward’ but should have never ‘fallen back,” he posted on social media. “With Dalight Saving Time returning on Sunday, we should pass my Sunshine Protection Act to lock the clock and make it permanent.”
Who is in favour of the Sunlight Protection Act?
The matter of daylight savings is one of a small number of issues that has no real partisan leaning in Congress, with senators from both parties co-sponsoring the Senate bill.
Sen. Ed Marky, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said: “It’s past time for Congress to broaden its horizons and finally make daylight saving time permanent.”
If the bill were to be adapted in its current form daylight saving time, which is set to go into effect in March, would be become the permanent year-round time in the United States. Different regions would still maintain their distinct geographical time zones.
Rep. Frank Pallone, formerly the chair of the House Energy and Commerce explained that the issue is not one that divides along partisan lines in Congress: “These opinions don’t break down by party, but instead by region.”
“We don’t want to make a hasty change and then have it reversed several years later after public opinion turns against it - which is exactly what happened in the early 1970s.”
Back then there was a short-lived experiment when daylight saving time was made permanent. In a matter of a few months in the winter public support dropped from 79 percent to 42 percent.
Will the Sunlight Protection Act pass the House this time?
Last time the Senate offered unanimous support for the proposal so it is unlikely that there will be any resistance in the Upper House again this time.
To encourage support in the House, Rep. Vern Buchanan has introduced companion legislation entitled ‘To make daylight savings time permanent’ to bring the matter to a debate.
“There are enormous health and economic benefits to making daylight saving time permanent,” Buchanan, a Florida Republican wrote in a statement.
“Florida lawmakers have already voted to make daylight saving time permanent in my home state and Congress should pass the Sunshine Protection Act to move Florida and the rest of the country to year-round daylight saving time.”
In the 435-member House of Representatives 75 freshman lawmakers were sworn into the 118th Congress and there was a change of leadership with a new majority party. It was hoped that this would’ve increased the likelihood of the proposal passing.
However, things have been tumultous in the House, controlled by Republicans by a whisker of a margin, with the far-right wing of the party toppling their number one in the chamber, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. His replacement has been more occupied with other issues, especially extending government funding until a formal budget can be approved to avoid a shutdown of federal government operations.