The Sunshine Protection Act

Story posted March 14, 2023 in CommRadio, News by Carly Dell’Oso

This past Sunday, March 12, the clocks “sprung” ahead at 2 a.m. by one hour to honor the bi-yearly time change in the United States.

This most recent change occurs each spring and is known as daylight savings time. With it, we lose an hour of sleep. With daylight savings time, the mornings are darker, while the sun stays up later into the evening.

The idea of daylight savings time first began in 1918, but was soon after repealed in 1919 due to World War I. In 1942, the plan was reinstated during World War II in order to save energy resources. The Uniform Time Act was eventually passed in 1966, which made the bi-yearly clock-change official throughout the United States.

In 2021, The Sunshine Protection Act was introduced by Senator Marco Rubio. If passed, this bill would eliminate the bi-yearly clock changes entirely.

Instead of setting the clocks back an hour in November, daylight savings time would remain permanent throughout the year, beginning in November of 2023. The bill was unanimously passed in the Senate, but got stopped in the House of Representatives due to further concerns regarding committing to daylight savings time permanently. Lawmakers in the House said that there are more important situations currently being voted on, which moves The Sunshine Protection Act to the backburner.

Making daylight savings time permanent has been attempted in the past history of our country, but did not work out how the country anticipated. Concerns arose from parents who would be sending their children to school while it is still dark out, while areas with prominent tourism and large farming communities were also negatively affected.

Hawaii and Arizona have already deviated from the typical time changes. Arizona switches from mountain time to pacific time, while Hawaii goes from six hours behind eastern time to five hours behind eastern time. As of October 2022, 19 additional states have already begun the process to remain on daylight savings time year-round, however they cannot make permanent changes without approval from Congress.


Carly Dell’Oso is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To email her, contact ced5690@psu.edu.