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Washington — The House on Tuesday voted to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, amid a yearslong push to end the twice-annual clock changes.
The bill, titled the Sunshine Protection Act, passed in a 308 to 117 vote. In addition to keeping clocks shifted one hour ahead, which happens in the spring, the measure would allow states to use standard time if an exemption is in effect before the federal law is enacted. Hawaii and most of Arizona currently use standard time year-round.
“I don’t really know anybody who wants to change the clock anymore,” said Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey on Monday as the House Rules Committee considered the measure.
GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, who introduced the bill, said Tuesday the clock changes disrupt schedules “for no good reason.”
Proponents of the bill argue the change would have positive impacts on sleep schedules, people’s health and the economy, and would allow Americans to have more daylight hours in the evening throughout the year. Its critics say extended darkness in the morning hours of winter would have negative effects on health and safety.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where its future is unclear. The Senate adopted a similar measure in 2022, but it was never taken up in the House. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, who spearheaded prior efforts in the upper chamber to make daylight saving time permanent, called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to “bring this bill to a vote as soon as possible.”
President Trump’s position on the issue has changed over the years. He has called both for daylight saving time to be eliminated and for it to be made permanent. In May, when the bill advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Trump said he would sign it into law if it makes it to his desk.
Congress enacted daylight saving time in 1918 to add additional daylight hours and help conserve energy during World War I. It was implemented again during World War II. In 1973, Congress briefly made daylight saving time permanent, but reversed course just months later after public opinion soured on the experiment. The current practice of starting daylight saving time on the second Sunday in March and ending it on the first Sunday in November was enacted under President George W. Bush.
“Permanent daylight savings time was repealed within a year because it didn’t work,” Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania said Monday during the Rules Committee meeting. “We all enjoy the extra hour or so of sunlight in the summer, but when people are considering this, they need to consider the extra hours of darkness in the winter.”
