‘People are unhappy.’ Should the US stop adjusting its clocks twice a year? Take our poll
U.S. senators made it clear Tuesday that they don’t want to change their clocks twice a year any longer.
Senators unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act Tuesday which would make daylight saving time the permanent standard time across the United States.
Daylight saving time is observed in nearly every state nationwide.
U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn and some of North Carolina’s state lawmakers have tried to stop clocks from being set an hour back in the fall but so far their attempts haven’t worked.
Cawthorn, a Republican representing North Carolina’s westernmost district, introduced a House bill last March calling for an end to “pointless clock adjustments.”
In North Carolina, GOP state Rep. Jason Saine filed a similar bill last March trying to get state lawmakers to take action, though had his bill gone through it would have still required approval from Congress for the change to go into effect, The News & Observer previously reported.
But it was the bill filed in Congress by Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, that gained enough traction to make more sunlight a potential reality.
He said on the Senate floor Tuesday that he knew this wasn’t Congress’ most important issue, but it was one that most people agreed on.
“The good news is that if we can get this passed, we don’t have to keep doing this stupidity anymore,” Rubio said, just two days after the last time change.
The bill still has to go before the House for approval before it lands on the president’s desk for his signature to become law.
If all of that happens it would not go into effect until November 2023 to give time for industries from transportation to broadcasting, which already have built out schedules based on daylight savings, to adjust.
Rubio said the practice began in 1918 as a way to save energy. Through the years, the time change has been adjusted and typically lasted six months until 2005 when Congress extended the additional daylight by two extra months.
He said there’s studies now show that switching time back and forth increases heart attacks, vehicle wrecks and pedestrian accidents. Rubio said studies show the extra hour of sun reduces crime rates, child obesity and seasonal depression.
“People are unhappy,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island who cosponsored the bill. “It does darken our lives in a very literal sense.”
The Washington Post, however, reported that the darker winter mornings that come with permanent daylight saving time were unpopular when Congress tried it in the 1970s.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 12:57 PM.