US House to Vote on Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote next week on a bill to make daylight saving time (DST) permanent, reviving a legislative effort that has previously stalled despite broad support.

According to a notice posted Thursday, the vote will address the Sunshine Protection Act, which aims to end the practice of changing clocks twice a year. The bill would allow states the option to opt out and remain on standard time.

Legislative Path

The measure comes to the floor after the House Energy and Commerce Committee overwhelmingly approved it with a 48-1 vote in May. This follows a similar push in the last Congress, where the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a version of the bill in March 2022, but the House never brought it to a vote.

If the bill passes the House, it would once again need to be taken up and approved by the Senate before it could be sent to the president. The bill's original sponsor, Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL), has introduced the legislation regularly since 2018.

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Economic and Social Arguments

Supporters argue that eliminating the time change would have several benefits. They cite studies linking the shift to sleep disturbances, an increase in workplace injuries, and more car accidents. Proponents also believe that brighter evenings in the winter would boost economic activity, particularly in tourism and recreation.

• Economic Boost: Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) stated permanent DST is "better for safety and will boost New Jersey’s tourism industry."
• Health and Safety: Advocates point to the disruption caused by the biannual clock change as a key reason for the reform.

However, the proposal faces opposition. Critics, including Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), have raised concerns that permanent DST would result in dangerously dark mornings during the winter, forcing children to travel to school in darkness across much of the country. The U.S. previously implemented year-round DST in 1974 in response to the energy crisis, but it proved deeply unpopular and was repealed by Congress later that year.