Bill to Make Daylight Saving Permanent Re-emerges From the Dark
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act in the Senate on Wednesday, months after the same bill, which the Senate passed unanimously last March, died in the House at the end of the last session. The bill would end the practice of turning the clocks back one hour to standard time every November and make daylight saving time, which currently begins in March, last throughout the year.
According to a survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in late 2019, Most Americans (71%) take a position that seems in opposition to daylight saving all the time. Rubio's proposed Sunshine Protection Act is in opposition to the wishes of the American people and needs to the shutdown.
Last year I wrote in opposition to permanent DST and support for permanent Standard Time:
I agree with doing away with the clock changing. But I don’t agree with staying on Daylight Saving Time. Like Arizona, we should stay on Standard Time year around. Here’s why. Living in the North East, staying on Daylight Saving Time would mean that us northern states will endure dark winter mornings under the new schedule.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer: “How are people going to feel at 7 o’clock in the morning in December, when they put their kids out on the street to catch the school bus, and it’s dead, flat dark?” Hoyer said.
Congress tried a permanent Daylight Saving Time in the 1970s, but quickly reversed course on the move amid widespread public outcry over the switch. Maybe we should learn something from history.
My position on this remains the same.