Permanent Daylight Saving Time Across the U.S. Approved by Senate: Here's What You Should Know
The effort to make the Daylight Saving Time permanent across the U.S. got a boost Tuesday when Senators passed a bill that will end the annual clock switching.
According to Wall Street Journal, the biannual ritual of changing the clocks forward in the spring for Daylight Saving Time and backward in the fall to standard time has been a source of debate and consternation for decades.
Although most Americans agree that it is time to end the tradition, politicians and the public are still divided on whether it would be best to permanently "spring forward" or "fall back."
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved the measure called the Sunshine Protection Act. It reportedly earned 17 cosponsors from both Republican and Democratic parties in the upper chamber.
According to CNN, the bill would still need to pass the House and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a sponsor of the legislation, said he does not have any assurance that the House will take it up, but "it's an idea whose time has come."
If the bill is signed into law, "we don't have to keep doing this stupidity anymore," added Rubio.
Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who represents Arizona, a state that does not observe Daylight Saving Time, could be heard on the mic saying, "Ooh, I love it," following the bill's passage.
Senator Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, also supported the bill, saying that the extra hour at the end of the day was "consistently better than having it dark when kids go to school" and when getting home.
Daylight Saving Time to Be Implemented Next Year?
Daylight Saving Time makes up about eight months of the year, with the remaining months called standard time. It starts every second weekend of March and ends the first weekend of November.
Under current federal law, states are allowed to opt-out of Daylight Saving Time and remain on standard time but are not allowed to stay on daylight time.
In the Senate proposal, states would have to choose between using Daylight Saving Time or standard time all year round and could not switch between them.
According to Rubio, the bill's implementation is delayed to November 2023 because the transportation industry has already built up schedules based on the current time and requested additional months to make adjustments.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 18 states have passed laws or resolutions to maintain permanent Daylight Saving Time in the last four years. Only Hawaii and Arizona, aside from the Navajo Nation, do not observe Daylight Saving Time.
Does Daylight Saving Time Affect One's Health In Any Way?
Though Daylight Saving Time is good news for some people who enjoy extra hours of sunlight later in the day, experts said there's growing evidence that shows that the annual time shift is bad for a person's health.
Experts noted that changing the clocks disrupt sleep and circadian cycles, leading to a higher immediate risk of heart attacks, atrial fibrillation, strokes, and even potentially car accidents.
In 2019, the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms published a study that found the acute effect of Daylight Saving Time in the days after the change was an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
According to Life Science, Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea of the time change in 1784. However, Daylight Saving Time was not used in the U.S. until World War I in 1918 and again in 1942 for World War II.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Jess Smith
WATCH: Senate Approves Permanent Daylight Saving Time - From CBS Evening News