Latest updates: Daylight saving time in 2023
Despite many Americans’ aversion to having to “spring forward” and “fall back” each year, all signs point to continued twice-yearly clock changes
No major legislative changes to daylight saving time (DST) have been enacted yet in 2023, so clocks will fall back on Sunday, November 5.
Federal law prohibits states from switching to permanent daylight saving time. Changes to federal law, including the Sunshine Protection Act, have yet to come up for a vote in 2023.
Dozens of U.S. states are considering legislation to eliminate clock changes. But there has been relatively little momentum compared to recent years.
What is the Sunshine Protection Act?
The Sunshine Protection Act is a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate every year since 2018 by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) also introduced it in the House of Representatives in March 2023.
The bill would establish permanent daylight saving time nationwide. Under the bill’s provisions, there would be no clock changes in the spring and fall.
Arizona, Hawaii, and U.S. territories already following permanent standard time would be exempt from the law. These states and territories would continue using their current system of permanent standard time.
Any other state that adopted permanent standard time before the Sunshine Protection Act became law would also be exempt.
The law’s effects would be most apparent from November to March when clocks would otherwise be on standard time. In general, daylight saving time means less light in the morning. So, during these months, people with typical work and school schedules would be more likely to start the day in the dark.
That said, the effects of the Sunshine Protection Act would vary by location. The amount of daylight throughout the year depends on how far a place is from the equator. In addition, cities in the western parts of each time zone have later sunrises, which can mean even less morning light under permanent daylight saving time.
Read the companion article, What Would Ending Daylight Saving Time Mean For Sleep?
What is the status of the Sunshine Protection Act?
There are no signs that the Sunshine Protection Act will be passed by the U.S. Congress in 2023. The bill does not appear to have enough support to get through committees or to win a majority vote in either the House or Senate.
In March of 2022, the Sunshine Protection Act passed the Senate through an unusual process called unanimous consent. No formal vote took place, but when the bill was introduced, no senator objected to its passage.
However, a companion bill in the House never made it out of committee, so the Sunshine Protection Act ran out of momentum and did not become law.
What is the status of state-level policy changes?
More than two dozen states have considered legislation about daylight saving time in 2023 but have yet to pass new laws.
Various laws have been proposed, and some states even have competing legislation. Examples of proposed policy changes include:
- Enacting permanent standard time
- Enacting permanent daylight saving time contingent upon a change in federal law that permits such a policy
- Creating a statewide referendum about daylight saving time
- Commissioning a study to examine the impacts of permanent standard time or daylight saving time
Although many bills have been introduced, none have been fully approved. Permanent daylight saving time passed the state Senate in Oklahoma and the state House in Texas. However, the legislation remains pending in both states because it has not passed the other legislative chamber.
New clock change legislation was voted down recently in Idaho, Kentucky, Arkansas, Connecticut, Nebraska, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Virginia, and Wyoming.
While no new laws have gone into effect this year, a number of states have already changed their laws in prior years.
Why hasn’t the United States already abolished clock changes?
There is no single reason that clock changes have not been abolished already. Although surveys show that clock changes are generally unpopular, there is no consensus about whether permanent standard time or permanent daylight saving time is the best alternative.
With strong opinions on both sides, it can be challenging for lawmakers to win support for either approach.
In addition, changing federal law can be a drawn-out process, which has helped keep the current system in place.
What do experts say about daylight saving time?
Experts from different fields have weighed in on daylight saving time. While most sleep scientists prefer permanent standard time, many economists and business experts favor permanent daylight saving time.
Studies have examined the impacts of standard time and daylight saving time on things like sleep, physical and mental health, car accidents, energy consumption, crime, economic activity, and school performance.
After reviewing all of the evidence, groups of sleep experts like the American Academy of Sleep Medicine , the Sleep Research Society , and the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms have forcefully argued that the potential harmful health effects justify a policy of permanent standard time.
Supporting permanent daylight saving time, analysts say that more daylight in the evening could improve public safety , increase social and commercial activity, and lower electricity use.
While researchers continue to study the issue, new scientific publications have been relatively limited. Recent research appears unlikely to shift the landscape for public policy making.
What is public opinion about clock changes and daylight saving time?
Recent polls have found that over 60 percent of people want to end biannual clock changes. Most polls suggest that permanent daylight saving time is more popular than permanent standard time.
But experts note that poll results can vary significantly based on how the questions are phrased and when the poll is conducted.
In addition, poll results do not always align with respondents’ stated priorities. For example, a YouGov poll conducted in March 2023 showed that people strongly prefer more light in the morning.
Yet, in the same survey, more people said they favored making daylight saving time permanent, resulting in less morning light and more daylight in the evening.
Why was daylight saving time created?
The U.S. started daylight saving time in 1918 and has since implemented and repealed it various times. It was created primarily to reduce energy consumption and promote commerce. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established the current practice of switching between standard time and daylight saving time.
Permanent daylight saving time existed during the wartime years of 1918 to 1919 and 1942 to 1945 to conserve energy. The U.S. also experimented with permanent daylight saving time in January 1974 in the face of a mounting oil crisis.
That ended in October 1974 because of public dislike of darker mornings.
How likely are we to stop changing clocks and adopt permanent daylight saving time?
By most accounts, a change to the twice-yearly clock changes and enacting permanent daylight saving time at the federal level is unlikely anytime soon.
Although the issue has attracted more attention and congressional support in recent years, there is still considerable disagreement about policy changes that, for the time being, will be difficult to overcome.
See more here sleepfoundation.org
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Paul
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I’m Australian and we suffer from the same changes every year. At 70 years old, it still bugs me. Never got used to it when I was working and even less so now I’m so called retired. It always takes a minimum of a fortnight to adjust at either end, but I never really do adjust in spring until we go back to standard time in autumn.
I’ve read plenty of articles over the decades that tell us more die on the roads at change over. Not surprising as tiredness is a huge under-acknowledged killer on the roads. Heart attacks increase too so why bother? Surely on those grounds alone we should’ve knocked this on the head decades ago if we are so worried about unnecessary deaths? Seems it only really benefits business in Australia.
Here’s my idea, why not adjust clocks by one half of an hour and leave them that way? A compromise time that has a little of this and a little of that. As some bright spark said decades ago, “When offered two solutions, always take the third!”
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Frank S.
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If they had a clock that would lose 20 seconds a day for 6 months, then gain 20 seconds a day for 6 months, it would keep up perfectly with DST. And, you’d never notice the changes.
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