SALT LAKE CITY – Standard Time could see its sunset in Utah and other western states as two bipartisan bills in Congress aim for states to make summer time permanent and provide residents with more evening sunlight year round.
“Nobody wants to reset their clocks twice a year. This is an unpopular, outdated practice that does nothing but mess up our schedules. It is time for the federal government to let the states decide, “R-Utah Rep. Chris Stewart said in a statement to Deseret News on Wednesday.
Stewart is a sponsor of the Daylight Act and would allow states to maintain daylight saving time permanently if they so choose.
Meanwhile, the Sun Protection Act, sponsored for the third year in a row by Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Along with several other Democratic and Republican senators, would make daylight saving time permanent for four in most states that currently have Standard Time Months after the clock “falls back” in November and summer time for eight months after “spring forward” in March.
Numerous studies have linked changing the clock twice a year to problems such as heart problems, depression, negative effects on sleep, and car accidents. An Australian study even found a link to an increase in the suicide rate. Other studies suggest something called “microsleep”, which is also known as “zoning out”.
Daylight saving time starts at 2 a.m. on Sunday. This change adds an extra hour of daylight to the longest days of the year. The clocks will then revert to standard time on November 7th.
Rubio has sponsored its legislation since Florida passed the same law in 2018, and like Utah, which passed law last year not to change the times, it takes federal action to get it implemented.
“The reputation for ending the obsolete practice of changing watches is gaining momentum across the country,” Rubio said in the statement.
“Studies have shown many benefits of year-round daylight saving time, which is why Florida legislation in 2018 voted for permanent daylight saving time. I am proud to reintroduce this bipartisan bill to make summer time permanent and to help our nation’s families become more stable as the year progresses, ”he said.
Fifteen states recently passed similar laws. In 2020, Utah legislation approved SB59, sponsored by Senator Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, which will make daylight saving time permanent if Congress and at least four western states do too.
Although states can “drop” the switch to stay on Standard Time year-round, as Arizona and Hawaii did, they cannot transition to a permanent daylight saving schedule without action by Congress. This system, originally set up to save fuel during WWI and WWII, has been modified over the years by Washington politicians.
Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, California, and Washington all passed laws to extend daylight saving time, and New Mexico is considering the change – meaning Beehive State is just waiting for federal government approval before putting its law into effect implements.
Harper said he’s met with lawmakers from other western states and most are eager to make the change, except for those in Arizona where they want to adhere to standard time.
The senator said he believes that Congress will likely get on with the issue this year and that “one of the two (bills) has a really good chance of passing.”
“This is a topic that has been discussed for decades. There’s a long, long history of this, of countries that want more light in the evening, not just from the United States but other countries as well, ”Harper said.
He remembered hearing arguments about time changes as a child. Since it was first elected into state legislature in the late 1990s, “it has been one of the hottest and most debated topics. People want to stop turning the clock on and the vast majority of people want more light in the evenings with daylight saving time all year round, ”said Harper.
Rep. Marsha Judkins, R-Provo, called for an end to the clock change as she supported a resolution passed on the last day of the 2019 session that introduced a bill in Congress in July 2018 by US Rep. Rob Bishop, R- supported. Utah calls on states to have the power to choose whether to continue spring backwards and forwards.
But even as states worked to stop changing the clock, the congressional movement on the matter has been slow to tick.
“Something that has been difficult for me to understand is the non-movement or the apparent disinterest of our Congress delegation and Congress in general in this issue, not because I think it’s the most important issue out there, but it’s an issue that so many Americans are important, “said Judkins on Wednesday.
When lawmakers looked at a bill on daylight saving time, Judkins found it was getting more attention than most of the others. She’s still getting emails about past bills.
“So I hope Congress will take a really good and close look this time around,” said Judkins.
“The data is there that people Americans are fed up with turning the clock. But not only that, it’s better for our health, it’s better for business, it’s just better for many reasons, ”said the rep.
While raising her seven children, Judkins remembered that some of them had issues that made it difficult to change their schedules along with the clock change. While she once saw a possible switch to Standard Time as a possible solution to giving schoolchildren more sunlight in the morning, she now simply wants the clock to stop changing.
Some people with disabilities, as well as those taking certain medications, may have difficulty when the time changes.
Should daylight saving time be permanent, Judkins hopes the state will consider giving school districts more flexibility in structuring their visiting hours so that high school and elementary school students don’t have to wake up as early as studies have shown to get more sleep.
“I have a feeling we can do it. We got it working in the past. We can make it work no matter which way it goes, but the health benefits are much better, ”said Judkins.
But Judkins acknowledged the problem can be contentious – some people like the way Utah is falling back and jumping forward, others would prefer to stay in standard time, and others want the sun to go into the sun for as long as possible Let outside in the evening.
If the leaders chose, federal law allowed the state to adhere to standard time, but Judkins noted that most don’t seem to be in favor of the idea.
“So if we only use daylight saving time all year round or we don’t want to change the clock, I feel like – and this is not a scientific study – but when I checked my emails, more people were like, ‘Just listen to change the clock. I want that, ”said Judkins.
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