Congress is attempting again to make daylight saving time permanent but also giving states the chance to opt out.
The bill, which is called the “Sunshine Protection Act” and ends the twice-annual clock-switching, is set for a full floor vote next week, after the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May voted 48-1 in favor of the bill.
“The Sunshine Protection Act would require states that do not exempt themselves before it takes effect to lock their clocks on the time observed between March and November,” the Hill explained.
President Donald Trump has vigorously supported the measure, promising to help get it passed, the Hill reported.
“It’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice yearly production,” Trump wrote on social media following the committee’s vote two months ago.
Similar legislation was unanimously approved in 2022 in the Senate, but at that time it stalled in the House.
As it stands now, daylight saving time requires the clocks to “Spring forward” one hour on the second Sunday in March and “Fall back” an hour on the first Sunday in November. It has been in place in nearly all of the U.S. since it was introduced in the 1960s.
The country previously observed year-round daylight saving time during World War II and President Richard Nixon ushered it into place in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 “energy crisis” caused by oil shortages.
However, that change was repealed after intense public backlash over dark and cold winter mornings for school children.
Two states, Hawaii and most of Arizona, do not observe the yearly clock change. California voters in 2018 passed a proposition to make daylight saving permanent, but under federal law that change cannot be made without approval of Congress.
House supporters say the twice-a-year time shift “causes sleep disturbances, greater workplace injuries and car crashes,” according to Newsmax.
“They also believe brighter evenings would spur more economic activity in winter,” that cable news outlet reported.
If the measure passes the House, it would go to the Senate where these days it faces opposition, including from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).
In a speech on the Senate floor in October, Cotton said:
By moving the clock back an hour in winter, permanent Daylight Savings Time would push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that’s essential for our safety and well-being.
For many Arkansans, permanent Daylight Savings Time would mean the sun wouldn’t rise until after 8:00 or even 8:30 a.m. during the dead of winter. Three months out of the year, kids in towns like Bentonville, Fayetteville, and Fort Smith would start school ahead of the sun.
“Of course, the advocates for Daylight Savings Time try to put, well, a sunny face on this bill,” the senator added.
But he also admitted “a handful of industries would gain from the bill,” such as outdoor entertainment venues, seaside resorts, and golf courses in the southern states during the winter.
In old-school Senate oratory tradition, the senator ended the speech by citing the story of King Canute, an 11th Century European monarch, who set his throne on the shore and forbade the tide to come in.
It did not work, the king got drenched and told the members of his court that “the power of kings is empty and worthless,” Cotton pointed out.
“Good King Canute’s wise words are as true now as they were then,” Cotton said, concluding the speech. “No earthly ruler — not even this Congress — can alter the movements of the heavens — not today, not in 1974, not ever.”
Breitbart News contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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