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Florida lawmakers lead fight over daylight saving time

Rubio Reintroduces Bill to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent

Most of us will set our clocks an hour forward on Sunday at 2 a.m. 

: It has nothing to do with helping farmers.

3 Things To Know About Daylight Saving Time (DST)

Not intended to make longer days for farmers, but rather first enacted to help conserve energy used for light/heat (coal) during WWI.

The need for DST has always been a topic of debate. Today, about 70 countries observe DST – that’s less than 40% of countries around the world.

Daylight saving time lasts approx. eight months. Standard time lasts four months.

The federal government mandated daylight saving time (DST) in 1918 during 

 Congress standardized DST start and end dates requiring observing states to be in sync, but allowed states to opt out.

 Congress reset the start of DST to the second Sunday in March and set the end of DST for the first Sunday in November; these changes went into effect in 2007. 

States are not required to observe DST, but congressional approval is required to keep year-round daylight saving time.

As of Oct. 2022, 19 states have passed laws to keep year-round (permanent) daylight saving time over the past several years. These laws await Congress’ approval.

Two states – Arizona (except Navajo territories) and Hawaii – as well as five major U.S. territories, don’t observe DST & keep year-round standard time.

“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.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said in early March. He has introduced and reintroduced legislation since 2018 to eliminate the time shift and make daylight saving time permanent. In 2022, the bill – "The Sunshine Protection Act" – passed unanimously in the Senate though never made it to a vote in the House. 

Changing our clocks was controversial from the beginning with complaints about BIG government. According to a 2022 poll by 

, less than a fourth of U.S. residents like switching the clocks twice each year, while nearly half would prefer permanent DST. Meanwhile, about a third of people prefer permanent Standard Time. What would you prefer? See if your state has pending legislation on our source page.

Now You Know

Daylight Saving Time: 2023

CHECK HERE TO SEE THE STATUS OF YOUR STATE: Daylight Saving Time | State Legislation

Florida lawmakers lead fight over daylight saving time (Axios) 
