Almost every single US state has considered laws to abolish daylight-saving time

Kenneth Niemeyer
·2 min read
13

  • Almost every state has considering ending daylight-saving time.

  • States cannot switch to a permanent daylight-saving time until federal law changes.

  • A federal law to end daylight-savings has already passed in the Senate, but is waiting on a House vote.

Americans are tired of losing an hour of sleep every year to daylight-saving time.

Lawmakers in nearly every state have considered laws that would do away with daylight-saving time since 2019, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures report.

In 2022, the American Medical Association called for the end of daylight-saving time, saying that it can take months for the human body to adjust to a new sleep cycle after losing an hour in the morning.

Around 62% of Americans would prefer eliminating the need to change their clocks twice a year, according to a study from YouGov, a UK-based polling service.

Of the Americans surveyed in the poll, 50% said they would prefer to keep permanent daylight-savings time, with later sunrises and sunsets. Meanwhile, only 31% preferred to keep permanent standard time.

Still, for states to switch to a permanent daylight-saving time will require changing federal law.

The Uniform Time Act, passed in 1966, allows states not to observe daylight-saving time and stick to standard time year-round, but the law does not allow for states to observe permanent daylight-saving time.

Hawaii and Arizona are the only states that observe standard time year-round.

State legislatures across the country have considered more than 650 different laws that would establish a year-round daylight-saving time once federal law allows it, according to the NCSL.

The Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, which aims to move the US to a permanent daylight-saving time — unexpectedly passed through the Senate in March 2022 with a unanimous vote. The bill was reintroduced in the House of Representatives last year but has not gone to the floor for a vote.

Rep. Marco Rubio and Rep. Vern Buchanan, both of Florida, are sponsoring the bill in the House.

"Changing our clocks twice a year is inconvenient and entirely unnecessary," Buchanan said in a release. "It's time to end this antiquated practice."

State legislatures in Maine, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Utah, have already passed permanent daylight-savings bills that will go into effect if the federal law ever changes, according to the report. California voters also approved a similar ballot initiative in 2018.

Lawmakers also considered or are considering similar laws this year in Alaska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, per the report.

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