The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent across the United States, that’s right – no more “falling back – or springing forward.”
The Sunshine Protection Act passed the Senate unanimously but still needs to clear the house, and then get a signature from the president.
A sponsor of the bill, Florida Senator Marco Rubio said he’s not sure that the House will take up the measure, but “it’s an idea whose time has come.”
“You’ll see it’s an eclectic collection of members of the United States Senate in favor of what we’ve just done here in the Senate, and that’s to pass a bill to make Daylight Savings Time permanent,” said Rubio on the Senate floor. “Just this past weekend, we all went through that biannual ritual of changing the clock back and forth and the disruption that comes with it. And one has to ask themselves after a while why do we keep doing it?” “If we can get this passed, we don’t have to keep doing this stupidity anymore,” Rubio shared.
Lead Democratic sponsor Sheldon Whitehouse Senator from Rhode Island said, “this would give us a chance for Americans all across the country to be rid of fall back and make Daylights Savings Time permanent and to add a little sunlight into most people’s lives.”
Daylight saving time has been in place except for Hawaii and Arizona since the 1960s. It’s not the first time year-round daylight savings time was put in place. It was adopted in 1973 in an attempt to save energy due to an oil embargo, but repealed one year later.
So, it’s up to the House of Representatives and possibly the President whether we’ll be falling back or not later this year!
