Latest Updates: What’s Happening With Daylight Saving Time?

By Eric Suni.

For much of the United States, daylight saving time is set to start again at 2 a.m. local time on March 12, 2023, — despite efforts to legislate out the time change.

On March 15, 2022, just days after clocks were adjusted to “spring forward,” the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, which would abolish clock changes in favor of daylight saving time year-round.

So is daylight saving time becoming permanent or ending permanently any time soon? Not necessarily, as the Sunshine Protection Act still requires approval by the House and President Joe Biden. That didn’t occur with the 2022 version of the bill. But in March 2023, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, reintroduced it to the Senate , with a similar bill also introduced in the House.

Either bill would bring major shifts in our clocks, daylight exposure, and sleep if it were to become law.

Although dozens of states have considered legislation to end clock changes, only federal action can establish permanent daylight saving time in the United States. States may be able to opt out of daylight saving time, choosing permanent standard time. Local governments also can request to change time zones, which the U.S. secretary of transportation must approve.

Here’s what we know about the potential changes to our time changes.

March 3, 2023, UPDATE: The Sunshine Protection Act bills introduced on March 2, 2023, still require approval from the Senate and House, as well as the president’s signature, to become law.

The Senate bill includes co-sponsors from both parties. The logic, Rubio said in his statement, is simple: “This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid.”

Brassknocker, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons