This article needs to be updated.(January 2024) |
Establishing either permanent standard or daylight saving time (DST) eliminates the practice of semi-annual clock changes, specifically the advancement of clocks by one hour from standard time to DST on the second Sunday in March (commonly called "spring forward") and the retraction of clocks by one hour from DST to standard time on the first Sunday in November ("fall back").
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 formalized the specification of time zones and the dates of DST observation in the United States. Prior to this law, time zones and DST observation in America were independent and erratic across states and cities. [1] [2] The law requires states to change clocks semiannually between standard time and DST on federally mandated dates, and it permits states to opt out of DST observation altogether and remain on permanent standard time, but does not permit observation of permanent DST. [3] Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, and all permanently inhabited territories observe permanent standard time.
Studies have shown the semi-annual clock changes result in sleep disturbances, ultimately resulting in more health problems and traffic accidents. [4] [5] Legislators in 25 states have attempted to switch to either permanent standard time or permanent DST. Currently more states are pursuing permanent DST. [6]
Prior to the nationwide implementation of DST in 1967, some American states observed permanent Standard Time. [7] Currently in the US, Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, and all permanently inhabited territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) observe permanent standard time. [8] A number of states have proposed bills to restore observation of permanent standard time, but few have gained ground as of yet. [9] [10] [6]
Permanent standard time is considered by circadian health researchers and safety experts worldwide to be the best option for health, safety, schools, and economy, including the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, National Sleep Foundation, American College of Chest Physicians, National Safety Council, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Canadian Sleep Society, World Sleep Society, Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, and several state sleep societies. [11] [12] [4] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] Permanent standard time is supported by advocates for school children, including the National PTA, National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, National School Boards Association, and Start School Later. They cite both the health benefits of circadian alignment, and the safety advantages regarding morning commutes. [11] [19] [20] [21]
Permanent standard time is also supported by environmental data, owing to evidence that DST observation increases morning heating, evening driving, and evening residential air conditioning, which all in turn increase energy consumption and pollution. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
A change in federal law would be necessary to allow states to observe DST permanently all year. A number of states have pursued state bills, resolutions, and referendums to indicate intention to observe permanent DST if federal law would permit it.
In 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio introduced to Congress the "Sunshine Protection Act", a bill to permit states to observe permanent DST. The bill had achieved referral to committee, but had not received a hearing. [27] [28] [29] [30] Also in 2021, Florida Republican Representative Vern Buchanan introduced a daylight saving time for the whole country, by changing everyone's time zone forward by an hour (Eastern Time would become permanently UTC-0400 instead of UTC-0500). That bill also allowed states to opt out under certain conditions. [31] On March 15, 2022, Rubio's bill passed the Senate. [32]
As a work-around to the Uniform Time Act's prohibition on permanent DST, a bloc of states in New England has proposed a statutory move from the Eastern Time Zone to the Atlantic Time Zone (Atlantic Time being one hour ahead of Eastern Time), and then abolishing biannual clock changes. If approved by the Department of Transportation, such a move would effectively put these states on permanent DST without needing to await amendment to the Uniform Time Act by Congress. Similarly, on the West Coast, Washington passed both a bill for permanent DST and an alternative bill to move the state's official observation from the Pacific Time Zone to the Mountain Time Zone. [33]
A meta-analysis by Rutgers researchers found that permanent DST would eliminate 171 pedestrian fatalities (a 13% reduction) per year. [34] DST has been supported by the Chamber of Commerce since 1915 attributing added sales and outdoor activity to sunlight in the evenings. Additionally, DST has been expanded to nearly 8 months of the year, effectively making it the new standard. [35]
Some have warned, however, that the decreased exposure to morning sunlight will have significant detrimental effects. Sleep researchers have likened the resulting increased fatigue to "permanent [jet lag]". [12] Experts such as Till Roenneberg argue that permanent observation of DST significantly [4] increases rates of disease and accidents, and lowers productivity and wages. [36] In 2018, the European Sleep Research Society, the European Biological Rhythms Society, and the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR) released a joint statement to the EU Commission on DST in opposition to permanent DST and in support of permanent standard time. [37] The SRBR followed with its own more comprehensive statement and set of materials supporting the same position in 2019. [18] In August 2020, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine provided a statement on why they oppose permanent daylight saving time and favor permanent standard time. [11] Poor sleep among workers costs the United States $411 billion annually, according to Rand Europe. This figure, which equates to about 1.23 million workdays lost due to insufficient sleep each year, ranks the United States first in terms of economic losses due to insufficient sleep. [38]
The idea of staying on Daylight Saving Time during winter months is opposed by certain religious communities, such as Orthodox Jews, whose daily prayers and other customs are synchronized with times of sunrise and sunset. [39] [40] [41]
Permanent DST in the US was briefly enacted by president Richard Nixon in January 1974, in response to the 1973 oil crisis. [19] The new permanent DST law was retracted within the year. [1] [2] [42] [43] Year-round daylight saving time was initially supported by 79% of the public, but that support had dropped to 42% after its first winter. [44] Considerable opposition to observing DST during the winter had come from school groups, such as the National School Boards Association, which expressed concern over darkness during the morning school commute. [45] [46] When members of Congress introduced legislation to repeal the practice, they stated it jeopardized children's safety, citing the deaths of eight schoolchildren in Florida since DST had been enacted a few weeks prior. [47]
The main argument for introducing year-round DST is that the lifestyles and work patterns of modern-day citizens are no longer compatible with the concept of shifting the clock every spring and fall. Supporters also argue that switching to ''Forward Time'' would also result in saving energy by reducing the need for artificial light. [48] The Sunshine Protection Act of 2019 was introduced in the Senate by Senator Marco Rubio (R) of Florida to make the times used for DST permanent and to abolish biannual clock change. It had bipartisan support from senators from Washington and Tennessee, but it had not received a hearing in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. [49] [50]
In 2015, the Nevada Senate passed Nevada Assembly Joint Resolution 4, [51] which urged Congress to enact legislation allowing individual states to establish daylight saving time as the standard time in their respective states throughout the calendar year. This would mean that Nevada is on the same time as Arizona all year, but would be an hour ahead of California in the winter. [52] The United States Congress has not yet enacted any enabling legislation in this regard.
In 2018, the Florida Senate approved the Sunshine Protection Act which would put Florida on permanent daylight saving time year round, and Governor Rick Scott signed it March 23. Congress would need to amend the existing 1966 federal law to allow the change. [53]
In 2018, voters in California approved a ballot measure to permit the state legislature to pursue legislation for permanent daylight saving time or standard time. However, California law still requires a vote of two-thirds of the state's legislature (and approval of Congress for permanent DST). Bills for permanent DST followed in 2019 and 2022, which both failed. [54] [55] [56] [57] [58]
In 2019, the Washington State Legislature passed Substitute House Bill 1196, [59] which would establish year-round observation of daylight saving time contingent on the United States Congress amending federal law to authorize states to observe daylight saving time year-round. [60] Tennessee and Oregon also passed bills in 2019 for year-round DST. [61] [62]
In 2021, the Georgia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 100 providing for year-round daylight saving time if the United States Congress amends 15 U.S.C. Section 260a to authorize states to observe daylight saving time year round. [63]
In 2022, the United States Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time permanent; [64] the bill failed in the House and expired at the end of the year. [65] The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has opposed the Sunshine Protection Act and called instead for permanent standard time, a position supported by the American College of Chest Physicians and the World Sleep Society, among others. [66]
In March 2023, the Sunshine Protection Act was reintroduced, but as of April 2024 [update] , there has been no appreciable progress of the bill. [67]
State-level permanent DST is prohibited by the Uniform Time Act and would require Congress to change federal law. [3]
State | Legislation for permanent standard time | Legislation for permanent DST | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Alabama | No attempt | Success [68] [69] | |
Alaska | Failure [70] | Failure [71] | |
American Samoa | Success [6] | No attempt | |
Arizona | Success | No attempt | Has observed permanent standard time since 1968; see also Time in Arizona. (A.R.S. § 1-242, in effect since January 1, 1969) [72] |
Arkansas | Failure [6] | Failure [73] | One bill for permanent standard time, [74] two for permanent DST. [75] [76] |
California | Pending | Failure | In 2018, Proposition 7 passed, allowing the state legislature to change the periods of DST through another bill. Subsequent bills for permanent DST failed in 2020 and 2022. [56] [57] [77] [78] [58] In 2023, a bill was proposed that would establish permanent standard time. [79] |
Colorado | Failure [80] [81] | Partial success [82] [83] | Requires at least four other states in the Mountain Time Zone pass laws to adopt permanent DST. |
Connecticut | Failure [6] [84] [85] | Failure [86] | |
Delaware | No attempt | Partial success [87] | Establishes permanent Atlantic Standard Time. Requires Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland to do the same. |
District of Columbia | No attempt | No attempt | |
Florida | No attempt | Success [53] | |
Georgia | Failure [88] | Success (OCGA § 50-1-10) [88] [89] | Two simultaneous bills were introduced in 2021. One for permanent standard time, the other for permanent DST. |
Guam | Success [6] | No attempt | |
Hawaii | Success | No attempt | Has observed permanent standard time since 1967; see also Time in Hawaii. (H.R.S. §1-31, in effect since March 30, 1967) [90] |
Idaho | Failure [91] | Partial success [92] [93] | If Washington implements permanent daylight saving time, the northern part of the state in Pacific Time will follow. A bill to do the same for the part of the state in Mountain Time if Utah implements permanent daylight saving time has not passed. |
Illinois | Failure [94] [95] | Pending [6] | |
Indiana | No attempt | No attempt | |
Iowa | Failure [96] | Failure [97] [98] [99] [100] [101] [102] [103] | |
Kansas | No attempt | Failure [104] | |
Kentucky | No attempt | Failure [105] | |
Louisiana | No attempt | Success [106] | |
Maine | Pending [6] | Partial success [107] | Requires all states in the eastern time zone, and the District of Columbia, to do the same. |
Maryland | No attempt | Failure [108] | |
Massachusetts | Pending [6] | Pending [109] [110] | Establishes Atlantic Standard Time in substitute for permanent DST or permanent standard time. |
Michigan | No attempt | Pending [6] | Requires Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to observe daylight saving time year-round. |
Minnesota | Pending [111] [112] | Success [113] | |
Mississippi | Failure [114] | Success [115] | |
Missouri | Failure [116] | Failure [117] | |
Montana | Failure [118] | Partial success [119] | Requires at least three of the states of Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming to go on permanent DST. |
Nebraska | No attempt | Pending [6] | |
Nevada | No attempt | No attempt | |
New Hampshire | No attempt | Failure [120] | |
New Jersey | No attempt | Pending [121] [122] | |
New Mexico | Failure [6] | Failure [6] | |
New York | Pending [6] | Pending [6] | Bills for permanent DST, Atlantic Time, or permanent standard time. |
North Carolina | No attempt | Pending [6] | |
North Dakota | No attempt | No attempt | |
Northern Mariana Islands | Success [6] | No attempt | |
Ohio | Failure [123] | Pending [6] | |
Oklahoma | Pending [6] | Pending [6] | |
Oregon | Failure (2024) [124] [125] | Partial success [62] | Requires participation of California and Washington. Bill for permanent standard time failed in early 2024. |
Pennsylvania | Pending [6] | Pending [6] | |
Puerto Rico | Success [6] | No attempt | |
Rhode Island | No attempt | No attempt | |
South Carolina | No attempt | Success [126] | |
South Dakota | No attempt | No attempt | |
Tennessee | Pending [6] | Success [61] | |
Texas | Failure [127] | Failure [128] [129] | |
U.S. Virgin Islands | Success [6] | No attempt | |
Utah | No attempt | Partial success [130] | Requires at least four of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming to adopt permanent DST. |
Vermont | Pending [6] | Pending [6] | |
Virginia | Failure [131] | Failure [6] | |
Washington | Pending [132] | Success [133] | A bill is planned for early 2025 that includes legislation for permanent standard time. |
West Virginia | Failure [134] | Failure [135] | |
Wisconsin | No attempt | No attempt | |
Wyoming | Failure [136] | Partial success [137] | Requires three or more of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah to adopt permanent DST. |
Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight saving(s), daylight savings time, daylight time (United States and Canada), or summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks to make better use of the longer daylight available during summer so that darkness falls at a later clock time. The typical implementation of DST is to set clocks forward by one hour in spring or late winter, and to set clocks back by one hour to standard time in the autumn (or fall in North American English, hence the mnemonic: "spring forward and fall back").
The history of standard time in the United States began November 18, 1883, when United States and Canadian railroads instituted standard time in time zones. Before then, time of day was a local matter, and most cities and towns used some form of local solar time, maintained by some well-known clock. The standard time system was not immediately embraced by all. Standard time in time zones was established in U.S. law in the Standard Time Act on March 19, 1918, at which time daylight saving time was also instituted.
The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and some Caribbean islands.
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico.
The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC−08:00). During daylight saving time, a time offset of UTC−07:00 is used.
In the United States, time is divided into nine standard time zones covering the states, territories and other US possessions, with most of the country observing daylight saving time (DST) for approximately the spring, summer, and fall months. The time zone boundaries and DST observance are regulated by the Department of Transportation, but no single map of those existed until the agency announced intentions to make one in September 2022. Official and highly precise timekeeping services (clocks) are provided by two federal agencies: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ; and the United States Naval Observatory (USNO). The clocks run by these services are kept synchronized with each other as well as with those of other international timekeeping organizations.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966, Pub. L. 89–387, 80 Stat. 107, enacted April 13, 1966, was a Law of the United States to "promote the adoption and observance of uniform time within the standard time zones" prescribed by the Standard Time Act of 1918. Its intended effect was to simplify the official pattern of where and when daylight saving time (DST) is applied within the U.S. Prior to this law, each state had its own scheme for when DST would begin and end, and in some cases, which parts of the state should use it.
The Atlantic Time Zone is a geographical region that keeps standard time—called Atlantic Standard Time (AST)—by subtracting four hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), resulting in UTC−04:00. AST is observed in parts of North America including several Caribbean islands. During part of the year, some portions of the zone observe daylight saving time, referred to as Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT), by moving their clocks forward one hour to UTC−03:00. The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 60th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory.
Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Central Standard Time and Australian Western Standard Time.
Canada is divided into six time zones. Most areas of the country's provinces and territories operate on standard time from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March and daylight saving time the rest of the year.
Most of the United States observes daylight saving time (DST), the practice of setting the clock forward by one hour when there is longer daylight during the day, so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. Exceptions include Arizona, Hawaii, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established a uniform set of rules for states opting to observe daylight saving time.
In Canada, daylight saving time (DST) is observed in nine of the country's ten provinces and two of its three territories—though with exceptions in parts of several provinces and Nunavut.
Most of Mexico no longer observes daylight saving time as it was abolished on Sunday, 30 October 2022. The exceptions are the entire state of Baja California, as well as the border municipalities in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas which still observe daylight savings time matching the schedule of the United States beginning on the second Sunday of March and ending on the first Sunday of November.
Daylight saving time (DST) is currently observed in the Australian states of New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria, as well as the Australian Capital Territory, Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island. Other Australian jurisdictions – the states of Queensland and Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Australia's other external territories – do not observe daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time in the Americas is the arrangement in the Americas by which clocks are advanced by one hour in spring and moved back in autumn, to make the most of seasonal daylight. The practice is widespread in North America, with most of Canada and the United States participating, but much less so in Central and South America.
Daylight saving time (DST), also known as summer time, is the practice of advancing clocks during part of the year, typically by one hour around spring and summer, so that daylight ends at a later time of the day. As of 2024, DST is observed in most of Europe, most of North America and parts of Africa and Asia around the Northern Hemisphere summer, and in parts of South America and Oceania around the Southern Hemisphere summer. It was also formerly observed in other areas.
Time in Arizona, as in all U.S. states, is regulated by the United States Department of Transportation as well as by state and tribal law.
Current time for most counties: 05:37, December 16, 2024 EST [refresh]
Current time for some panhandle counties: 04:37, December 16, 2024 CST [refresh]
The Sunshine Protection Act is a proposed United States federal law that would make U.S. daylight saving time permanent, meaning the time would no longer change twice per year. The bill has been proposed during several sessions of Congress. In 2022, the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent, although several senators stated later that they would have objected if they had known that the bill could pass. No iteration of the bill has passed the House.
Proposition 7 was a California ballot proposition in that state's general election on November 6, 2018. The measure passed, by a vote of about 60% Yes to 40% No.
"It comes down to something really simple, anyone can try it at home or ask their friends, 'Do you want year-round daylight savings time or do you want to get rid of daylight savings time?'" said Asm. Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego.
And we were really straightforward when we ran the initiative that we weren't putting our thumb on the scale of either daylight saving time or standard time. But everybody heard what they wanted to hear. So, people who like Daylight Saving Time thought, 'Yes, Daylight Saving Time year-round,' and people who don't like time change thought Standard Time year-round.