Members of Congress have reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent across the United States. Federal law currently allows states to opt out of daylight saving time to remain on standard time year-round, but it does not permit states to adopt permanent daylight saving time without an act of Congress.
Proponents of the legislation, including Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., argue that the change would reduce seasonal depression, lower energy consumption, and provide more daylight hours for outdoor economic activity. Critics, including certain sleep scientists and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have argued that year-round standard time is better for human circadian rhythms and that permanent daylight saving time results in darker winter mornings.
The United States previously experimented with year-round daylight saving time in January 1974 during the national energy crisis. Although initially popular, public support declined following reports of children commuting to school in the dark and an increase in early morning traffic accidents. Congress repealed the measure eight months later, returning the country to seasonal clock changes in October 1974.
The Sunshine Protection Act has previously passed the Senate by unanimous consent in 2022 but did not receive a vote in the House of Representatives. To become law, the current bill must pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by the president.