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    • States push for legislation to end time change
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    States push for legislation to end time change

    Umito Posted on

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    It’s that time again. On Sunday, most Americans set their clocks back an hourand many have renewed their biannual call to end this practice.

    On November 3, those who had been on DST for the past eight months “took back” and gained an hour of sleep. Early risers got an earlier sunrise, but that also meant the sun set an hour earlier.

    For years, the start and end of daylight saving time have been accompanied by renewed calls to end time changes. All but two U.S. states use daylight saving time. Some states want to make it permanent, while others have decided to make standard time permanent.

    The result is a confusing patchwork of bills, but no real change because the federal government won’t allow it – yet. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida I repeated a call this week to pass a bill he introduced that would make daylight saving time permanent across the country. The Sunshine Protect Act passed the Senate in 2022, but has not advanced in the House of Representatives, despite being introduced in several legislative sessions.

    “It’s time to lock the clock and stop enduring the ridiculous and antiquated practice of switching clocks from one side to the other,” Rubio said.

    Experts say time changes are detrimental to health and safety, but agree the answer is not permanent daylight saving time.

    “The medical and scientific communities are unanimous … that permanent standard time is better for human health,” said Erik Herzog, professor of biology and neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis and past president of the Society for Research on Biological. Rhythms.

    Most Americans would prefer to eliminate time changes. About 43% want year-round standard time, 32% want permanent daylight saving time and 25% want to stick with the status quo, according to an October 2021 study from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. survey find. For now and at least for the foreseeable future, most Americans will continue to experience the jarring time changes that occur twice a year.

    Here’s where things stand:

    Which states want to eliminate time changes?

    No state can adopt permanent daylight saving time unless the U.S. Congress first passes a law authorizing it. But several states have passed or considered legislation to make the change if or when Congress gets behind the idea.

    States have considered hundreds of pieces of DST legislation in recent years, including 30 in 2024, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    Oklahoma became the latest state to pass a measure allowing permanent daylight saving time in April, pending congressional approval.

    Nineteen other states have passed laws or resolutions to move to year-round daylight saving time, if Congress ever authorizes it, according to the NCSL. They are Colorado, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Wyoming, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington and Florida. In California, voters approved a ballot initiative to allow their legislature to pass such a law.

    Some of these States have made this provision conditional on neighboring States doing the same. Idahowhich is divided into two different time zones, passed a measure that would allow daylight saving time in the northern part of the state only if neighboring Washington did so. Delaware law would only adopt year-round daylight saving time if Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland also did so, Delaware Public Media reported.

    FALL BACK: Here’s when daylight saving time ends in 2024

    Why aren’t Arizona and Hawaii changing their clocks?

    Only two states and some territories are never required to move their clocks forward or back.

    Federal law prohibits states from adopting permanent daylight saving time, but Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii have instead made standard time permanent, which is perfectly acceptable under the federal law.

    So why don’t states so keen to end time changes just adopt a permanent standard time? Rubio and other ongoing DST advocates say the benefits include more time for outdoor activities or evening work, as well as energy savings. Many experts agree that time changes contribute to health and even safety problems.

    Changing the hours can be bad for your health

    Herzog said time changes disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm, which is like our internal clock. Going forward an hour in March is more difficult for us than going back in November. The change in spring is associated with an increase in heart attacks, and car accident rates also increase for a few days, he said.

    But the answer is not permanent daylight saving time, according to Herzog, who said that could be even worse for human health than the biannual changes. Looking at studies of people living in the far east of time zones (whose experience is closest to standard time) and people living in the far west (whose experience is more like standard time summer), scientists can determine that the health impacts of sunrises and earlier sunrises take place. the sunsets are much better. Waking up naturally with the sun is much better for our bodies than having to rely on alarm clocks to wake us up in the dark, he said.

    Herzog said Florida, where Rubio championed the sunlight protection law, is much less affected by the negative impacts of DST because it is as far east and south as possible in the United States, while residents of a state like Minnesota would have much more to do. more time in the dark in the morning.

    “Florida is driven by the calculation that it can get more people playing golf in the afternoon if you have a few hours of daylight after work,” he said.

    Permanent daylight saving time hasn’t worked well in the past

    We’ve already had DST for over eight months at a time, and it hasn’t been very successful.

    From February 1942 to September 1945, the United States undertook what became known as “Wartime“, when Congress voted for year-round daylight saving time during the war in an effort to save fuel. By the end of the war, states were able to establish their own standard time until in 1966, when Congress finally passed the Uniform Time Act, standardizing national time.

    In the midst of the energy crisis in 1973, former President Richard Nixon signed a bill putting the United States on daylight saving time beginning in January 1974. While the American public initially welcomed the idea , soon “the experiment… came up against public opinion.” The New York Times reported in October 1974. Sunrises that could occur as late as 9:30 a.m. in some areas in winter have become increasingly unpopular. It didn’t take long for Congress to reverse course in October 1974.

    Contributor: Krystal Nurse, USA TODAY

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