Here’s where things stand.
It’s the time of year that many of us have come to dread: Daylight saving time starts this Sunday at 2 a.m. That means millions of Americans will soon be setting their clocks forward an hour — and losing a bit of sleep.
But in recent years, states have pushed back against this twice-yearly ritual. On Tuesday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio renewed a push to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, but it remains stalled in Congress. “We’re ‘springing forward’ but should have never ‘fallen back,’” Rubio said in a statement.
While getting enough momentum behind the bill has proven difficult, we wouldn’t be the first to get rid of daylight saving time. In 2022, Mexico ended DST for most of the country, except for some parts along the U.S border. China, India, and Russia don’t even have it, so we took a look at where things currently stand here.
When is daylight saving time 2024?
Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. This year, that means we’ll be moving the clocks forward on March 10 and setting them back on Nov. 3 at 2 a.m. (Fun fact: That means after Sunday, we’ll officially move out of Standard Time and into Daylight Time.)
Can states end daylight saving time?
States are pretty limited in what they can do. Under the Uniform Time Act, states can propose permanent standard time but not permanent daylight saving time. States can only abandon DST if Congress makes it legal by passing legislation, or a state can submit detailed information to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to request a change.
Nevertheless, virtually all states have at least considered enacting laws to change the rules. In recent years, local legislatures have considered at least 650 bills and resolutions to establish year-round daylight saving time as soon as federal law allows it.
But that doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon: The bill that would make daylight saving year-round, The Sunshine Protection Act, remains gridlocked. Even though the Senate passed it in March 2022, the House hasn’t taken it up yet as lawmakers have bigger fish to fry, like narrowly avoiding yet another government shutdown.
Which U.S. states do not observe daylight saving time?
Not everywhere in the U.S. observes the time changes: Hawaii, most of Arizona (except the Navajo Reservation), and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands don’t even recognize daylight saving time.
On the other hand, at least 19 states have passed measures pledging to make daylight saving time year-round if Congress allows it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California approved such a change, but legislative action is pending, so only the following states are included:
- Colorado
- Kentucky
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Idaho
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Wyoming
- Delaware
- Maine
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Florida
Other states are working on legislation to make standard time the permanent one. This includes Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont, according to Forbes.
But efforts to stop the twice-year clock changing haven’t been entirely successful — for instance, Virginia failed to pass a bill last year that would’ve moved the state to year-round daylight saving time.
What do Americans think of twice-a-year time changes?
Surveys have consistently shown that Americans aren’t a fan of time changes. In a poll by Economist/YouGov last March, 6 in 10 people said that they’d like to stop moving their clocks back and forth.
But there’s more of a divide when it comes to whether we should switch to daylight saving time or standard time. According to a 2019 AP-Norc poll, three in 10 wanted to go with DST, while four in 10 preferred standard time.
The issue has sparked a surprising amount of controversy. Doctors and those in the medical community argue that standard time is better for our health because it’s more aligned with our internal clocks. Daylight saving time, on the other hand, has been associated with less crime (because of the increased daylight hours), and it’s better for the economy as more people are likely to stay out.
Of course, people have gone on social media to show where they stand.
For now, it looks like this adjustment isn’t going anywhere — but at least we can enjoy the extra sunlight.
