Daylight Saving Ends Soon. Wait, Didn't Lawmakers Vote To End This?

Daylight saving time is set to end in the fall, like every year, but didn’t federal lawmakers decide to end this tradition and “ditch the switch”?

Well, kind of, but not really.

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Nov. 6, requiring most Americans to set their clocks back one hour. This year’s daylight saving time has been underway since March 13.

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• Does WA no longer love the idea of permanent daylight saving time? (March 2022)
• America is finally united on what to do about daylight saving time — except me | Danny Westneat (March 2022)

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The longstanding tradition of moving clocks ahead or back one hour each year has been the bane of many a sleep-deprived American for decades, and some state and federal lawmakers have tried to stop it.

Congress voted for permanent daylight saving time this year, right?

Not the full Congress. It’s true that the U.S. Senate on March 15, by unanimous consent, passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021. There was much buzz over the bill at the time, given it would make daylight saving time permanent starting Nov. 5, 2023 — that is, if the House and the president approved it.

As you can probably guess, that hasn’t happened. The bill was sent to the House, but nothing has been done with it since March.

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Why make daylight saving permanent?

The U.S. has had some form of daylight saving time since 1918, and the current federal policy was enacted in 1966. There have been a few changes since then, mainly to the start and end dates.

Daylight saving time was initially enacted to save energy by providing more daylight in the evening. Some studies have called such savings into question.

Related

UW professor says year-round daylight saving time ‘would be like Monday morning every day’ (March 2022)

Other studies have shown impacts on people’s health because of the time changes.

Shaun Goodwin.

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