U.S. Senate Votes To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent - Patch

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Politics & Government

Permanent Daylight Saving In NJ? U.S. Senate Votes On Bill

Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio was the primary sponsor of the idea. New Jersey U.S. Senator Cory Booker signed his name as a co-sponsor.

Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff

Posted Wed, Mar 16, 2022 at 9:35 am ET|Updated Wed, Mar 16, 2022 at 2:01 pm ET

NEW JERSEY — The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent across the country, and eliminate the decades-old U.S. tradition of changing clocks twice a year.

The bill still needs to be passed by the House of Representatives and signed by President Joe Biden. However, both appear likely to do so as of Wednesday morning.

The law is called the Sunshine Protection Act and it would go into effect in 2023.

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U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Republican from Florida, was the primary sponsor of the bill. Democrat U.S. Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker signed his name as a co-sponsor.

The law would eliminate Standard Time, which most U.S. states observe for four months of the year, from November to March. The law would instead make Daylight Saving Time, observed for eight months out of the year, permanent.

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Daylight Saving Time began this past Sunday, March 14, and lasts until November 7.

The bill would simply negate the need for Americans to change their clocks twice a year. So 2022 would be the last year Americans would have to change their clocks, and either lose or gain an hour of sleep.

New Jersey Congressman Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ 6), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, held a hearing on the idea last week and said Tuesday he strongly backs keeping Daylight Savings Time permanent.

He called the current system of changing clocks twice a year "silliness."

"It’s clear to me that it is time to stop changing our clocks twice a year," Rep. Pallone tweeted Tuesday. "I’m pleased to see momentum building after our hearing last week on the impacts of springing forward and falling back. The hearing showed there is widespread agreement on coming up with a permanent solution and I'm hopeful that we can end the silliness of the current system soon."

The Sunshine Protection Act was introduced by U.S. Senators Rubio, James Lankford (R-OK), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ed Markey (D-MA).

Rubio said he was motivated to make get rid of changing the clocks across the nation after the Florida state Legislature in 2018 enacted year-round Daylight Savings Time (DST).

However, for Florida’s change to apply, a change in the federal statute is required.

Fifteen U.S. states — Arkansas, Alabama, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming — have either similarly made Daylight Savings Time permanent or are considering doing so.

“The call to end the antiquated practice of clock changing is gaining momentum throughout the nation,” Sen. Rubio said in a statement. “I’m proud to reintroduce this bipartisan bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, and give our nation’s families more stability throughout the year.”

According to Sen. Rubio's office, studies have been shown that early darkness — or a 4:30 p.m. winter sunset — can lead to:

• Reduces car crashes and car accidents involving pedestrians: Better aligning daylight hours to drivers’ standard work hours’ increases visibility, according to the American Journal of Public Health and the Journal of Safety Research. It would also reduce the number of car collisions with deer or other wildlife by 8 – 11 percent, the journal found.

• Reduces risk for cardiac issues, stroke and seasonal depression.

• Reduces the number of robberies by 27 percent, according to a 2015 Brookings Institution because of additional daylight in the evenings.

• Benefits the economy, according to a study by JP Morgan Chase, which found that there is a drop in economic activity of 2.2 percent – 4.9 percent when clocks move back.

• Reduces childhood obesity and increases physical fitness, according to studies published by the International Journal Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity and the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, children see an increase in physical activity during DST. The Journal of Environmental Psychology found that DST increased pedestrian activity by 62% and cyclists activity by 38% because of additional daylight.

• Benefits the agricultural economy, which is disproportionately disrupted by biannual changes in time by upsetting the synergy between farmers’ schedules and their supply chain partners.

• Reduces energy usage, a 2008 study by the U.S. Department of Energy found that during the 4 weeks the U.S. extended daylight savings from the 2005 law, there were savings of about 0.5 percent in electricity per day. Later studies have also shown that the energy savings are minimal but a small savings does occur.

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