(NEXSTAR) — It’s the first Sunday of November, which can only mean one thing for the U.S.: daylight saving time is ending. We will now trade away the later sunrises and sunsets we’ve enjoyed since March for earlier sunrises and sunsets.
If lawmakers nationwide had their way, we would not be changing the clocks at all this fall.
Here’s a look at where those efforts stand as daylight saving time 2024 comes to an end.
Where do states stand on daylight saving time?
Nearly every state has brought forth — and in a few cases, even passed — legislation or resolutions to end the bi-annual clock changes. In most cases, the states are hoping to stay on daylight saving time year-round, which means “springing forward” in March and not “falling back” in November.
States are not currently able to make that decision on their own. They can, however, opt into permanent standard time, like Hawaii and most of Arizona. Some states have made recent attempts at transitioning to permanent standard time, but those efforts stalled or died.
What about federal efforts on daylight saving time?
Bills introduced into Congress have faced the same fate.
In March 2023, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) reintroduced his Sunshine Protection Act, which would enact permanent daylight saving time in the U.S. Despite bipartisan support, the measure has remained in committee.
“It’s time to lock the clock and stop enduring the ridiculous and antiquated practice of switching our clocks back and forth. Let’s finally pass my Sunshine Protection Act and end the need to ‘fall back’ and ‘spring forward’ for good,” Rubio said in a statement released on Monday.
Around the same time Rubio introduced his bill, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) introduced legislation that would allow states to observe daylight saving time year-round. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) also introduced a bill in 2023, dubbed the DAYLIGHT Act, which would allow states to observe daylight saving time year-round. If it had been passed, the bill also called for a report to be submitted to Congress “containing the results of a study on implementing daylight savings [sic] time year-round.”
Lawmakers at both levels have tried to put a permanent end to the seasonal time change but with little progress (except for the times that we did, briefly, stop observing daylight saving time, only to return to it relatively quickly).
Permanent daylight saving time has failed before
The U.S. has had a flip-flopping relationship with seasonal time changes.
In 1918, the U.S. started observing daylight saving time as a wartime measure to save energy, but that lasted for only a year. It came back in 1942 during World War II but was so chaotic as states and localities were allowed to decide when they wanted to switch between daylight saving and standard times.
Then in 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act to standardize the twice-a-year changing of the clocks nationwide. However, in the 1970s, the U.S. again observed year-round daylight saving time.
With the country facing a national energy crisis, President Richard Nixon signed an emergency daylight saving time bill into law. There was great public support for the move, at least at first. It was parents who quickly disliked the change as they were sending their kids to school in the dark during the winter. Less than a year later, President Gerald Ford signed a bill to put the U.S. back on standard time through the winter, as we are today.
Which is better, daylight saving or standard time?
This will depend on who you ask. Lawmakers frequently argue that year-round daylight saving time can make us happier, reduce crime rates, and be better for our health.
While data does show instances of heart attacks and strokes, fatal car crashes, and emergency room visits do tick upward around the time change, health and sleep experts say permanent standard time is better for us in the long run.
It’s largely due to the increase in morning daylight, which comes at a time when our melatonin system is preparing for the day.
“It’s a hormone that our body produces to kind of get the processes started for sleep when it notices that it’s dark outside, but in the morning and with sunlight exposure, light actually suppresses melatonin,” said Dr. Alaina Tiani, a clinical health psychologist who specializes in behavioral sleep medicine at the Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorder Center. Permanent standard time would afford us more of those crucial morning daylight hours.
That can also improve our circadian rhythm, or our internal clock, which can in turn help our sleep. Studies have also shown relationships between sleep and circadian rhythm deprivation and mental health problems, drug use, speeding, delinquent behaviors, educational performance, and employment salaries.
Regardless of what side of the clock you stand on, daylight saving time officially ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 3. It will start again on Sunday, March 9.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
