Senator Marco Rubio Reintroduced Bill to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent — Details
Updated March 10 2023, 2:00 p.m. ET
According to a CBS News poll conducted in March 2022, 46 percent of U.S. citizens want Daylight Saving Time to be the permanent standard time, 33 percent prefer the current standard time all year round, and 21 percent are OK with the clock switching. The 46 percent may have their way now that the Sunshine Protection Act has been seriously considered by government entities over the last few years.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) occurs every year on the second Sunday of March when the time jumps ahead an hour. There's a lot of debate surrounding the benefits of DST. However, the act to maintain DST all year long is a part of the Energy Police Act of 2005, which asserts that making DST permanent saves energy by prolonging daylight in the evening hours. If passed by Congress and President Biden, the bill would go into effect on Nov. 5, 2023. So, is it happening and when will Congress vote on it?
When does Congress vote on Daylight Saving Time?
When the Sunshine Protection Act or S.623 (H.R.69) was introduced in 2021, it proposed that states would be allowed to make DST the permanent time. Since it effectively would repeal a federal act that made standard time the designated time, states would be forced to decide between standard and DST. States that already operate under standard time could remain the same. Currently, 19 states enacted legislation to provide for year-round DST.
Ahead of Daylight Saving Time going into affect in March 2023, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) decided to bring the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023 to the attention of the 118th Congress. Rubio spearheaded the Sunshine Protection Act in 2021–2022 as well and it was unanimously passed by the Senate. However, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi never brought the legislation up for a vote in the House of Representatives during her tenure, leaving its future in Congress undecided.
Only time will tell if the government decides to make a decision on the Sunshine Protection Act at the federal level in this session of Congress. As of this writing, there isn't a set date for the act to be voted on by Congress. However, with bipartisan support and a majority of Americans backing the move, it seems as though the only thing holding it back at this point is bureaucracy.
You can track the bill's progress on Congress' website.
