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Daylight Saving Time Ends: Senate Blocks Bill to Make It Permanent
· Confirmed
In Short: Despite the push for permanent daylight saving time, an AP-NORC poll last year found that only 12% of American adults were in favor of the current system, while almost half opposed it.
The House of Representatives passed a bill with a 308 to 117 majority in favor of ending the practice of changing clocks twice a year, but the Senate is unlikely to act on it before the end of the year.
Florida Senator Vern Buchanan, who introduced the bill, argued that more predictable daylight hours would benefit workers, businesses, and visitors alike.
However, the Senate has blocked the bill, with some senators, like Tom Cotton, opposing the change.
Cotton has argued that changing the time can be dangerous, especially for those working on high structures like church steeples.
President Trump has urged the Senate to pass the bill, even posting Cotton's personal cellphone number on social media and calling for supporters to pressure him.
Despite the push for permanent daylight saving time, an AP-NORC poll last year found that only 12% of American adults were in favor of the current system, while almost half opposed it.
The Navajo Nation in parts of Arizona is an exception to the current rule and observes daylight saving time, like its neighboring lands in New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.
The Department of Transportation notes that most of Arizona and Hawaii observe standard time year-round, as do the U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The time change means many Americans will 'fall back' and 'gain' an extra hour as clocks and timepieces turn back an hour.
While some jurisdictions allow bars to serve last call according to Sunday’s updated time, California rules say bars must stop serving alcohol two hours past midnight, regardless of the time change.
The extra hour doesn’t necessarily mean more revelry on Halloween night, as the time change can affect thinking, decision-making, and productivity.
The Senate is unlikely to act on the bill before the end of the year, defying President Trump and dashing the hopes of Americans who don’t like having to change their clocks twice a year.
What this adds
The Senate's inaction on the bill to make daylight saving time permanent is a significant setback for those advocating for a change in the current system.
The push for permanent daylight saving time has faced strong opposition from some senators, particularly Tom Cotton, who has been vocal about his concerns.
The time change can have real impacts on health, with studies finding associations between 'springing forward' and increased risks of heart attacks, strokes, traffic accidents, and mood disturbances.
Background
Most of Arizona and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time, while the rest of the U.S. will set clocks back an hour tonight.
The Senate blocked a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, despite pressure from President Donald Trump.
What's confirmed
- Most of Arizona and Hawaii observe standard time year round, according to the Department of Transportation, as well as the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
- Not all 50 states participate in daylight saving time.
- As daylight saving time ends early Sunday and much of the country turns the clocks back an hour, several senators are holding up legislation that would eliminate the longtime U.S. practice.
- "No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
- He renewed his call in a social media post this week, writing on Truth Social that "United States Senate is letting the Daylight Saving Bill die, when a vast Majority of the Country want it."
- He has argued that changing the time can be dangerous, especially when "you have high and dangerous steeples to reach, like on churches and municipal buildings."
- Even as many Americans now rely on digital clocks that change on their own, Trump said that "nobody wants to spend their precious time running all over the place, turning Clocks back twice a year."
- Florida Sen. Rick Scott signed legislation when he was governor in 2018 that would allow the state to remain on daylight saving time year round, pending federal approval.
- RELATED STORY | Alternative bill to permanent daylight saving time gains support from doctors, lawmakers President Donald Trump has said he supports making daylight saving time permanent.
- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is unlikely to act before the end of the year on a House-passed bill that would make daylight saving time permanent, defying President Donald Trump and dashing the hopes of Americans who don’t like having to change their clocks twice a year.
- “The head-spinning ritual of falling back and springing forward has a very real impact on our economy, our health, and our happiness,” said Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, when Scott introduced his own bill last year.
- Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said that it’s his understanding that the House bill is a “non-starter” for Senate Republican leaders.
What's still developing
- Here's what to know about what's formally known as daylight saving time as it ends for the year: Daylight saving time is the period during the year, from March to early November, when the majority of the U.S. operates one hour ahead of standard time.
- Studies have even found an association between “springing forward” to daylight saving time and the short-term risk of heart attacks, stroke, traffic accidents, emergency room visits, and serious mood disturbances.
- Depending on who you ask, it’s either the welcome return of before-work sunshine, or the start of a dreary slog through 4:30 pm sunsets. (The good news, though, is that however you feel about falling back, it’s not nearly as hard on the body as springing forward will be in March, when we return to daylight saving time.) It’s also a topic that draws strong opinions, including in the pages of Vox (which has both pointed out the awfulness of daylight saving time and argued that it should go on forever ).
- When daylight saving time begins before spring, clocks move one hour ahead, meaning sunrise and sunset occur later in the day.
- “For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one. It should pass overwhelmingly, in a Bipartisan fashion,” Trump posted.