On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.
- Senator Marco Rubio reintroduced the bill in 2021.
“Just this past weekend, we all went through that bi-annual ritual of changing the clock back and forth, and the disruption that comes with it,” said Senator Rubio on the Senate floor. “One has to ask themselves after a while, why do we keep doing it? Why are we doing this?”
Rubio says that “majority of the American people’s preference is just to stop the back and forth changing.”
“We see an increase in heart attacks and car accidents and pedestrian accidents in the week that follows the changes,” he said.
According to the Senator, benefits include:
- Reduced crime, as there is more light later in the day
- Decrease in child obesity
- Decrease in seasonal depression
“I’m hoping that after today, this will go over to the House and they’ll act quickly on it,” he continued. “I know this is not the most important issue confronting America, but it’s one of those issues where there’s a lot of agreement.”
- If the House passes the bill, it will then go to the President to sign.
There is one caveat…
This bill, and the amendment, does delay its implementation until November 2023 to allow airlines and railways time to adjust their schedules. Daylight Saving began on Sunday, March 13, and is set to last until Sunday, November 6th.
