Time to (permanently) shine: NC House approves DST legislation
“Congress needs to act to permit this change,” NC Rep. Jason Saine said. The Sunshine Protection Act stalled in the U.S. House after it passed the U.S. Senate last year by unanimous consent.
Daylight saving time (DST) is the practice of advancing the clocks by one hour during the summer months to extend daylight hours in the evening. The idea of DST was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, but it was not implemented until World War I.
In the United States, the dates of DST have changed several times over the years. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended DST in the United States by four weeks, starting in 2007. DST now begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) oversees the nation's time zones.
The U.S. has observed year-round daylight saving time before, in 1973, when President Nixon signed it into law. The experiment was supposed to last for two years, but it only lasted eight months, and Congress reverted to standard time in the fall of 1974. More recently, federal legislators say many studies have shown that making daylight saving time permanent could benefit the economy and the country.
H.B. 326 would establish a year-round daylight savings time in North Carolina as soon as federal law allows it. “At least 19 states have already passed legislation,” Rep. Jason Saine said on the N.C. House floor. “Federal law currently does not allow for permanent DST. So, Congress needs to act to permit this change,” he said.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established a system of uniform Daylight Saving Time throughout the United States, signed into law on April 12, 1966, by President Lyndon Johnson, and says that either Congress or the Secretary of Transportation can change a time-zone boundary. Daylight Saving Time was once known as “war time,” according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
N.C. Rep. Pricey Harrison rose in opposition to the bill. “I didn’t think I had a real opinion on this but I started to read and hear a lot of controversy,” she said. A number of health professionals, including the American Medical Association (AMA) sent a letter to legislators to oppose the bill, she said. The bill passed, 93-24.
In 2022, the AMA supported ending daylight saving time and moving to standard time, according to a press release. “Sleep experts say that standard time (which shifts daylight hours earlier in the morning) aligns best with human circadian biology. Data show that the sudden change from standard time to daylight saving time in March is associated with significant public health and safety risks, including increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders, and motor vehicle crashes. Some studies suggest that the body clock does not adjust to daylight saving time even after a few months,” the AMA said.
During World War I, Germany introduced DST as a way to conserve fuel. Other countries soon followed suit, including the United States. Federal oversight of time zones began in 1918 with the enactment of the Standard Time Act, which vested the Interstate Commerce Commission with the responsibility for establishing boundaries between the standard time zones in the continental United States. This responsibility was transferred from the Interstate Commerce Commission to DOT when Congress created DOT in 1966.
The oversight of time zones was assigned to DOT because time standards are important for many modes of transportation. DOT regulations, specifically 49 CFR part 71, contain the official listing of the nation's time zones. “If a State chooses to observe Daylight Saving Time, it must begin and end on federally mandated dates. Under the Uniform Time Act, States may choose to exempt themselves from observing Daylight Saving Time by State law. States do not have the authority to choose to be on permanent Daylight Saving Time,” according to the DOT website.
Permanent time, or standard time, is the year-round practice of keeping the clock set at the same time throughout the year. This means that there are no seasonal adjustments to the clock, and the amount of daylight available in the morning and evening remains consistent throughout the year.
The Sunshine Protection Act stalled in the U.S. House after it passed the U.S. Senate last year by unanimous consent. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023 for the 118th Congress. The legislation would end the antiquated practice of changing clocks twice a year. “This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid. Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done,” Rubio said in a March press release. U.S. Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) are original co-sponsors of the legislation.
U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) introduced companion legislation in the House. “There are enormous health and economic benefits to making daylight saving time permanent. Florida lawmakers have already voted to make daylight saving time permanent in my home state and Congress should pass the Sunshine Protection Act to move Florida and the rest of the country to year-round daylight saving time,” Rep. Buchanan said.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) supports the elimination of daylight saving time, but they oppose the Sunshine Protection Act. It is the position of the AASM that the U.S. should eliminate seasonal time changes in favor of a national, fixed, year-round time. “Current evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety,” according to their website.
“There are common misconceptions about daylight saving time and standard time. People often like the idea of daylight saving time because they think it provides more light. (People often equate daylight saving time with ‘summer time.’) In the same way, people may dislike the concept of standard time because they think it provides more darkness. (They equate standard time with ‘winter time.’) The reality is that neither one provides more light or darkness than the other; it is only the timing of light and darkness that changes,” the AASM website said.
State legislatures have considered at least 450 bills and resolutions in recent years to establish year-round daylight saving time as soon as federal law allows it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). “Much of the legislation would stop the disruption-causing, twice-yearly clock switching. Inherent in the debate is whether to enact either permanent standard time or permanent daylight time. The federal Uniform Time Act allows the former option but not the latter,” their website said.
For more information, read History of Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time (DST) from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
DOT is responsible for “fostering and promoting uniform time observance.” You can email regulationsC50.law@dot.gov if “your locality is not observing the proper time,” according to their website.
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About Annie Dance
Annie Dance has been a journalist for over 20 years and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a concentration in Journalism from Manhattan College. She completed 42 credits for a Master of Arts in Communication degree at Fairfield University. She has been published in local, national, and international publications, including Hearst newspapers and websites, CTInsider.com, NewsTimes.com, and others. She is the Founding Editor of Western NC Deaf Community, a public Facebook group, where she covers deaf issues and leads discussions for ways deaf people can get better access to news and information in the 19 counties of western North Carolina. She was diagnosed with a profound hearing loss as a child and is an accessibility advocate, especially for the use of closed captioning.
Dance has experience in government affairs, media, and public policy. She is a registered unaffiliated voter and strives for fairness, truth and accuracy.
Dance has family roots in Raleigh. She served on local and state commissions in Connecticut for several years prior to moving to Rutherford County, North Carolina in 2020. She worked on local, state, and federal Republican candidates’ campaigns, including Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District.
She aims to shine a light on important issues and hold officials accountable with Cops & Congress.