It’s that time of the year when we set the clocks back one hour, returning us to standard time, reducing the amount of daylight in the evenings, but we gain an extra hour of sleep this weekend.

What You Need To Know

  • Sunshine Act passed in the U.S. Senate in 2022

  • Current time change rules have been in place since 2007

  • Arizona and Hawaii remain on standard time year round

This brings up the conversation of why we need to do the switching of the clocks twice a year. Why not just stay on daylight saving time year round? Folks in Missouri keep that conversation ongoing and have gone as far as introducing bills into the state legislature.

However, it’s not that easy. The path to accomplish this includes federal approval.

Why we change the clocks twice a year

The United States began the concept of daylight saving time in 1918, during World War I, to save fuel. By advancing one hour ahead, coal-fired energy would assist the war effort rather than that hour at home.

Standard time returned following the war and continued until World War II. After World War II, some states and even cities kept daylight saving time, creating various time zones within regions. Frustrated with no uniform time, the public pushed Congress to pass the Uniform Time Act in 1966.

This established the time frame that daylight saving time would begin the last Sunday in April and end the last Sunday in October.

In 1987, it extended to include the first Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October.

Part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the modern daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

This current time shift began in 2007.

Not everyone participates

Hawaii doesn’t participate because of its location. With not much variation throughout the year between sunrise and sunset, it made little sense to switch the clocks. 

Only the Navajo Nation in Arizona observes daylight saving time. The rest of the state exempted itself in 1968. 

They cited the heat as their reason for opting out, adding that if they switched the clocks ahead one hour, the sun would not set until 9 p.m. in the summer, limiting nighttime activities.

Current legislation

The Department of Transportation oversees daylight saving time and all the country’s time zones. 

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Federal law refers to the Uniform Time Act, which was passed in 1966. This law allows a state to exempt itself from observing daylight saving time or staying on standard time year round. However, it does not allow a state to be on permanent daylight saving time. 

As of 2024, at least 30 states have considered or are considering legislation or resolutions about Daylight Saving Time. 

22 States that have introduced legislation exempting from daylight saving time and staying on standard time year-round. No federal approval will be needed if passed. 

Those states are:

  • Alaska
  • California
  • North Carolina
  • Georgia
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Kentucky
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Minnesota
  • New Hampshire
  • New York
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Vermont
  • Washington
  • West Virginia

As of March 2024, none of these pieces of legislation have passed and are all marked ‘pending’ so the switch back to standard time in November is inevitable.

Missouri and daylight saving time

Several bills were introduced in Missouri. One bill says, “If the federal government adopts Daylight Saving Time as the new standard time, then Missouri will do the same.” Another bill asked Missouri to be exempt from daylight saving time unless there was a federal law. As of time of publication, all bills were still pending. 

St. Louis University/YouGov Poll asked 900 Missouri voters their thoughts on the Daylight Saving Time debate. Results from the poll suggest Missouri voters want a consistent time throughout the year.

47% prefer Daylight Saving Time all year, compared to 31% that want Standard Time year-round. 16% opted to keep the time change as it is now, meaning switch it twice a year. 

“Stopping changing our clocks twice a year has overwhelming bi-partisan support,” said Steven Rogers, Ph.D., SLU/YouGov Poll Director and associate professor of political science at Saint Louis University.

He adds, “At least 74% of each Democratic, Republican, and independent voters prefer to end the practice springing forward or falling back.” 

Sunshine Protection Act

On March 15, 2022, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously in favor of the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, meaning Americans would no longer have to change their clocks twice a year to account for the time change. 

While the Senate passed the bill, nearly two years later it remains stalled in the House and has not been signed into law by President Biden.

The future

For now, legislation to observe daylight saving time year-round remains pending.

Other states will continue to perform case studies and collect data to see if this shift is beneficial in saving energy, helping improve health and reducing crime.

And so we will change our clocks forward one hour this Sunday submitting to daylight saving time and then on Nov. 3, 2024, we will change the clocks back one hour, returning to standard time.

Based on a poll I conducted, most people want permanent daylight saving time. 

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