Permanent Daylight Saving Time

Permanent Daylight Saving Time Is Back on the Agenda. Here Is What Is Confirmed.

Twice a year, millions of people reset clocks, lose or gain an hour of sleep, and restart the same argument. Should the switch end for good? In the United States, the idea of year-round daylight saving time is not a rumor. It is a recurring bill in Congress, a live debate in statehouses, and a fight between evening sunlight and morning safety.

The latest trend is clear. Lawmakers keep trying to lock the country onto daylight saving time. Sleep scientists keep warning that permanent standard time is the healthier choice. As of September 2026, the clocks still change.

If you have a strong view, say it in the comments. Like this piece if the evidence changed your mind. Subscribe so you do not miss the next vote or the next study.

What the calendar actually does today

Federal law still requires most of the United States to spring forward on the second Sunday in March and fall back on the first Sunday in November. That schedule comes from the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Hawaii does not observe daylight saving time. Most of Arizona does not either, except the Navajo Nation. Those exceptions are already written into practice. They are not a national policy.

Congress can authorize year-round daylight saving time. States cannot do it alone. That single fact explains why so many state bills stall after they pass.

Why the Sunshine Protection Act will not go away

The Sunshine Protection Act is the main federal vehicle for permanent daylight saving time. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott first introduced it in 2018. The Senate passed a version unanimously on March 15, 2022. The House of Representatives never took it up, so it died.

The bill returned in 2023 and again in the 119th Congress as S.29, introduced on January 8, 2025. Cosponsors have included Senators Rick Scott, Karine Moreno-Terán, Ashley Moody, and others. It would make daylight saving time the permanent standard and end the twice-yearly change. It has not become law.

At least 19 states have passed measures that would move them to year-round daylight saving time if Congress changes federal law. Florida, Washington, California, Oregon, Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, and others are on that list. Several of those laws are explicitly conditional. Without a federal green light, the clocks still move.

source: Library of Congress

The last time America tried this, the public said no

This is not a new experiment. The United States ran year-round daylight saving time from January 1974 into 1975 during the energy crisis. Dark winter mornings quickly became unpopular, especially for children going to school. Congress repealed the policy, and the seasonal change returned.

That history still shapes the debate. Supporters sell later sunsets, more evening recreation, and fewer clock mix-ups. Opponents point to dark January commutes and the 1974 backlash.

What health groups have actually said

Major sleep and medical organizations have not lined up behind permanent daylight saving time. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has called for an end to seasonal clock changes and has recommended permanent standard time as the better option for circadian health.

Peer-reviewed research has linked the spring transition to short-term increases in heart attacks, strokes, and sleep loss. The autumn change is generally milder, but it still disrupts sleep. Those findings are why many clinicians argue that “stop changing the clocks” is not the same as “stay on daylight saving time forever.”

If Congress locked the nation onto daylight saving time, winter sunrises would arrive later. In northern cities, that can mean commuting and school arrivals in darkness for months. That is a documented concern, not a slogan.

source: Library of Congress

The global trend is messy, not settled

Europe looked ready to end clock changes after a 2018 public consultation and a 2019 European Parliament vote to stop the practice by 2021. Member states never agreed on whether to keep summer time or standard time. The seasonal change continues.

The United Kingdom still uses Greenwich Mean Time in winter and British Summer Time in summer. Canada has debated alignment with the United States, because cross-border commerce makes a solo move costly. Mexico ended daylight saving time for most of the country in 2022, with limited exceptions near the U.S. border.

Worldwide practice is split. Some countries use daylight saving time. Many never did. A growing number have dropped it. There is no single global standard to copy.

Watch this explainer on why the United States still changes clocks: PBS NewsHour, “Why the U.S. still changes its clocks twice a year”

What is actually trending now

Three facts define the 2025-2026 conversation.

First, the political product is permanent daylight saving time, not permanent standard time. That is what the Sunshine Protection Act would enact.

Second, the scientific product is different. Sleep medicine groups keep asking lawmakers to choose permanent standard time if the twice-yearly switch ends.

Third, nothing has taken effect nationally. Until Congress passes a bill and the president signs it, March and November still move the clock.

That gap between a popular talking point and an enacted statute is the story. Comment with the option you want: permanent daylight saving time, permanent standard time, or keep the current switch. Like this article if you want more explainers that separate bills from headlines. Subscribe for the next status check when Congress moves.

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#DaylightSavingTime #SunshineProtectionAct #PermanentDST #SleepScience #TimeChange

Sources

U.S. Congress, S.29 Sunshine Protection Act (119th Congress); Senate passage of the 2022 Sunshine Protection Act; Energy Policy Act of 2005; Congressional Research Service and National Conference of State Legislatures summaries of state DST legislation; American Academy of Sleep Medicine position on seasonal time change; historical record of the 1974 Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act and its repeal; European Parliament 2019 vote and subsequent European Commission status on seasonal clock changes; PBS NewsHour explainer on U.S. clock changes.