Rubio, other lawmakers battle to make daylight saving permanent
Americans sprang forward Sunday in the controversial annual tradition of daylight saving time, prompting over a dozen senators to re-up their push to “lock the clock” and make the change permanent.
“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,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said last week as he renewed his efforts to end the practice.
Back in 2022, a bill sponsored by Rubio — the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 — cleared the Senate via unanimous consent. Several senators later indicated they didn’t realize what they were supporting at the time
Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declined to take that measure up for consideration in the House of Representatives.
That bill would’ve made daylight savings time permanent.
“It’s time to lock the clock. Floridians are sick of changing their clocks because we all want more sunshine,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in a statement ahead of the Sunday clock-turning event.
“We should finish the job by passing this good bill today.”
Two states — Arizona and Hawaii, follow standard time during the whole year, and therefore, aren’t subjected to the clock tampering that takes place on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday in November.
Daylight saving became an official practice in 1918 under the Standard Time Act. It was briefly scrapped as a national standard at the end of World War II but was revived near the start of World War II.
The idea is to ensure that there’s more daylight in the evening. Benjamin Franklin is widely credited with having come up with the idea.
Briefly, during WWII, Congress made daylight saving time a year-round phenomenon, in a bit to help conserve fuel. That took place from 1942 to 1945.
Other senators backing Rubio’s and Scott’s renewed push include Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
In the lower chamber, Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) introduced champion legislation.
A considerable majority of 62% of Americans support scrapping the practice of changing the clocks twice a year, per an Economist/YouGov poll taken last year.
