For the last few years, members of Congress have worked to try and eliminate daylight saving time, but while one chamber has been able to pass legislation, it’s fallen short in the other, leaving states to make the decision themselves.
This year it appears nearly two dozen states could “lock the clock” on their own as they potentially “spring forward” for the last time on March 9.
In Illinois and Ohio, lawmakers have introduced legislation that will call on Congress to make the decision federally, making daylight saving time permanent. However, legislation in other states is more permanent.
Bills in Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania have been introduced to make daylight saving time a year-round practice.
When the discussion was first brought forward on the national scale in 2022, a Monmouth University poll found that 44% of Americans would prefer to keep the clocks locked on daylight saving time or the time we observe from March to November.
Fast forward to last October, and a YouGov poll found 63% of respondents supported making the time switch permanent.
Health experts have advocated for eliminating changing the clocks, but some say that the proposed legislation gets it wrong, and the time we should stay locked on should be what we observe from November to March.
Dr. Elizabeth Klerman from Harvard Medical School told CNN in 2022 that she thinks that moving an hour ahead permanently isn’t for the best.
“I’m one of the many sleep experts that knows it’s a bad idea,” Klerman, a professor of neurology in the division of sleep medicine, said.
Klerman pointed to studies published over the last three decades that have shown the one-hour change is a disruption to the body’s rhythms, which many say are in tune with the Earth’s rotation.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has also called for a ban on Daylight Saving time, as evidence shows that it can be detrimental.
“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,” the ban says.
When it comes to what the president thinks, Trump said in December that switching clocks was “inconvenient” and “costly,” but didn’t say which side of the clock he’s on.
As things currently sit, states are only able to observe standard time year-round, which Hawaii and most of Arizona do. However, there is no option to observe daylight saving time throughout the calendar year.
States that are looking to make standard time permanent include Arkansas, California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia.
States that have competing legislation for both year-round standard time and daylight saving time include Alaska, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
In Texas, a proposed piece of legislation might let voters make the decision, potentially adding the question to the ballot.