FALL BACK

Could daylight saving time ever be permanent? Where it stands in the states

Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
Sat, November 2, 2024

It's that time again. On Sunday, most Americans will set their clocks back an hour, and many will renew their twice-yearly calls to put an end to the practice altogether.

On Nov. 3, those who have been on daylight saving time for the last eight months will "fall back," and gain an hour of sleep. Early risers will have an earlier sunrise, but that also means the sun sets an hour earlier.

For years, the beginning and end of daylight saving time has been accompanied by renewed calls to end time changes altogether. All but two U.S. states observe daylight saving time. Some states want to make it permanent, while others have moved to make standard time permanent.

The result is a confusing patchwork of proposed legislation, but no real change because the federal government doesn't allow it – yet. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida repeated a call this week to pass a bill he introduced that would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide. The Sunshine Protect Act passed the Senate in 2022, but hasn't made progress in the House of Representatives, despite being introduced during multiple legislative sessions.

"It’s time to lock the clock and stop enduring the ridiculous and antiquated practice of switching our clocks back and forth," Rubio said.

Experts say the time changes are detrimental to health and safety, but agree that the answer isn't permanent DST.

"The medical and scientific communities are unified ... that permanent standard time is better for human health," said Erik Herzog, a professor of biology and neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis and the former president of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms.

Most Americans would prefer to do away with time changes. About 43% want year-round standard time, 32% want permanent daylight saving time and 25% want to stick with the status quo, an October 2021 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found. For now and for the near future at least, most Americans will keep going through the jarring time changes that come around twice a year.

Here's where things stand:

Which states want to do away with time changes?

No state can adopt permanent daylight saving time unless U.S. Congress passes a law to authorize it first. But several states have adopted or considered legislation to make the switch if or when Congress comes around to the idea.

States have considered hundreds of pieces of legislation about daylight saving time in recent years, including 30 in 2024, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Oklahoma became the most recent state to pass a measure authorizing permanent daylight saving time, pending Congressional approval, in April.

Nineteen other states have passed laws or resolutions to move toward daylight saving time year-round, if Congress were ever to allow it, according to the NCSL. They are: Colorado, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Wyoming, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington and Florida. In California, voters approved a ballot initiative to allow their legislature to pass such a law.

Some of those states made the provision contingent on neighboring states doing the same thing. Idaho, which is split into two different time zones, passed a measure that would make the switch to daylight saving time in the northern part of the state only if neighboring Washington does so. Delaware's law would enact daylight saving time year-round only if Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland also do, Delaware Public Media reported.

FALL BACK: Here's when daylight saving time ends in 2024

Why don't Arizona and Hawaii change their clocks?

Only two states and some territories never have to set their clocks forward or backward.

Federal law prohibits states from enacting permanent daylight saving time, but Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii have instead made standard time permanent, which is perfectly acceptable under federal law.

So why don't states that feel so strongly about ending time changes just enact permanent standard time? Rubio and other pro-permanent DST advocates argue that the benefits include more time for outdoor activities or work in the evening hours, and energy conservation. Many experts agree that time changes contribute to health issues and even safety problems.

Changing the clocks may be bad for your health

Herzog said the time changes disrupt the body's circadian rhythm, which is like our internal clock. Springing forward an hour in March is harder on us than falling back in November. The shift in spring is associated with an increase in heart attacks, and car accident rates also go up for a few days after, he said.

But the answer isn't permanent daylight saving time, according to Herzog, who said that could be even worse for human health than the twice-yearly changes. By looking at studies of people who live at the easternmost edge of time zones (whose experience is closest to standard time) and people who live at the westernmost edge (more like daylight saving time), scientists can tell that health impacts of earlier sunrises and sunsets are much better. Waking up naturally with the sun is far better for our bodies than having to rely on alarm clocks to wake up in the dark, he said.

Herzog said Florida, where Rubio has championed the Sunlight Protection Act, is much less impacted by the negative impacts of daylight saving time because it's as far east and south as you can get in the U.S., while people in a state like Minnesota would have much more time in the dark in the morning.

"Florida is motivated by the calculation that they can get more people golfing in the afternoon if you have some daylight hours after work," he said.
Permanent daylight saving time hasn't worked well in the past

We've had daylight saving time for longer than eight months at a time before, and it wasn't a big hit.

From February 1942 until September 1945, the U.S. took on what became known as "War Time," when Congress voted to make daylight saving time year-round during the war in an effort to conserve fuel. When it ended, states were able to establish their own standard time until 1966 when Congress finally passed the Uniform Time Act, standardizing national time.

Amid an energy crisis in 1973, former President Richard Nixon signed a bill putting the U.S. on daylight saving time starting in January 1974. While the American public at first liked the idea, soon "the experiment ... ran afoul of public opinion," The New York Times reported in October 1974. Sunrises that could be as late as 9:30 a.m. some places in parts of winter became increasingly unpopular. It didn't take long for Congress to reverse course in October 1974.

Contributing: Krystal Nurse, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Daylight saving time: States push for legislation to