As the end of daylight saving time looms this year, the U.S. Congress is still hung up on whether to make it permanent.
A bill to do so hit a brick wall in the House last year, despite passing the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill, the Sunshine Protection Act, was reintroduced in March by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in the Senate, and Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) introduced companion legislation in the House.
“This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid. Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done,” Rubio said in a statement on the reintroduction.
So, where is the bill now, and what is the history behind daylight saving time in the U.S.? Here’s what you need to know:
History of daylight saving time in the U.S.
During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson instituted daylight saving. However, he faced backlash from farmers. Congress later got rid of it after the war over the president’s veto. In World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt also instituted daylight saving, but it also was repealed after some states and cities went back to standard time on their own.
In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which made daylight saving time the standard. In late 1973, President Nixon signed an emergency bill turning daylight saving time into law, making it year-round, as a national energy crisis was occurring. It was designed to try and combat the crisis by cutting demand, but people became worried about children’s safety as they went to school in the winter dark. President Gerald Ford signed a bill bringing the U.S. back to standard time for four months of the year in October 1974.
Where we are now
Both the House and Senate versions of the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023 haven’t appeared to go far. The Senate bill has been read twice and referred to a committee, while the House bill has only been referred to a subcommittee.
