Senators Push Bill Keeping Daylight Savings Time

Bipartisan senators announced they are again introducing a bill that would make daylight savings time permanent.

The U.S. Senate passed legislation that would have made daylight savings permanent in 2023, but the bill was not taken up in the House.

Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ed Markey (D-MA) have reintroduced legislation on the matter, with a companion bill being introduced in the House by Vern Buchanan (R-FL).

“Instead of springing forward and falling back every year, we should just make Daylight Saving Time permanent,” Markey said in a press release. “The antiquated biannual ritual of toggling between times isn’t just an inconvenience—it also has very real impacts on our economy, our energy consumption, and our health. We know the sun will come out tomorrow, so let’s make that sun stay out an hour later by making Daylight Saving Time permanent and passing the Sunshine Protection Act. You can bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there’ll be sun … and smiles.”

Rubio stated, “We’re ‘springing forward’ but should have never ‘fallen back.’ My Sunshine Protection Act would end this stupid practice of changing our clocks back and forth.”

Easy win for the GOP: pass the Sunshine Protection Act and make Daylight Savings Permanent. pic.twitter.com/dLvojfcIxr

— JR Majewski (@JRMajewski) March 9, 2024

House Bill 1279 is described as making “daylight saving time the new, permanent standard time” and allows states with “areas exempt from daylight saving time” to choose the standard time.