Will daylight saving time become permanent in the US?

Daylight Savings Time (DST) is coming to an end this weekend, as clocks will turn back one hour until the spring. There are efforts to make DST permanent, but so far, they have been unsuccessful.

In 2018, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida introduced the Sunshine Protection Act. The purpose of the bill was to make DST permanent across the country, eliminating the need to change time twice a year. The bill was based on a similar law in Florida, but it did not progress and failed to become law.

The bill was introduced multiple times, in 2019 and again later, but all attempts were unsuccessful. It was only in March of 2022 that the Senate passed the bill with unanimous consent. However, it did not receive approval in the House of Representatives before the 117th Congress ended, despite finally achieving some success.

Sen. Rubio gave it another shot

In March 2023, Senator Rubio reintroduced the bill, saying that he hopes it will finally be implemented soon.

“This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid. Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done,” according to the senator.

If the House approves the bill this time around, it will be sent to the President to be signed.

Earlier this week, Senator Rubio made another pitch on X, formally known as Twitter.

The long road to permanent DST

It may take some time for the Sunshine Protection Act to be implemented even if it becomes law. Each state in the country would need to pass its own legislation to adopt permanent DST. While some states have already passed such laws, many others haven’t.