CA Voters Said Yes To Ending The Time Change. What Happened?

CALIFORNIA — No, it’s not sleep deprivation playing tricks on you—Californians did vote in 2018 to end the rest-robbing ritual of changing our clocks twice a year. So why did we still have to 'spring forward' on Sunday?

Sleep and medical experts have long warned that the abrupt shift in daylight hours disrupts our natural rhythms, causing everything from "mini jet lag" to decreased alertness. Meanwhile, voters at both the state and federal levels — along with most other states — have pushed to eliminate the practice.

In 2018, former Bay Area Assemblyman Kansen Chu led Proposition 7, which won support from 60 percent of voters and aimed to make daylight saving time permanent. But for that to happen, it also needed a two-thirds vote in the California Senate — one that never came. Even if it had, it wouldn't have been the end of daylight saving time. The reason? States don’t have the power to enact year-round daylight saving time. That authority rests with the federal government.

READ MORE: Daylight Saving Time Begins: When Sun Rises, Sets In U.S. Capitals

"We have so many reasons to abandon this antiquated practice," Kansen previously said. "It causes health issues, there's some scientific proof that it increases heart attack rates, work-related accidents, and it's also a pubic safety issue."

In 2022, years after Chu's proposition stalled in the state senate, he told Patch that the passage of the Sunshine Protection Act at the U.S. Senate was "tremendously exciting" and signaled renewed momentum for making daylight saving time permanent.

But yet again, the effort died as it never made it out of Congress.

This year, there is yet another California bill, along with a senate resolution, aimed at striking down "spring forward" and "fall back."

Sen. Roger Niello recently introduced SB 51 (R-Fair Oaks) and SRC-7in the state to "ditch the switch" by establishing permanent standard time. Like Chu's proposition and the Sunshine Protection Act, Niello has attempted to pass similar laws before, but all efforts stalled.

"When sunrises & sunsets are artificially delayed, our body clocks keep us up later, making it harder to fall asleep on time and wake up feeling refreshed," Niello said on Sunday.

Niello's bill differs from Chu's, which sought to give the legislature the authority to make either standard or daylight saving time permanent, and from the Sunshine Protection Act, which aims to establish daylight saving time year-round.

"Most people want to ditch the switch, but people disagree on which switch to ditch," he said. "Standard time is quite simply better for our health. It aligns better with our internal body clock."

Niello also noted "we actually switched to permanent daylight saving time in the '70s. The plan was to switch for two years. However, people disliked it so much, we abandoned it in less than 12 months."

DST is the opposite of what some health groups recommend. The American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine agree it's time to do away with time switches but say sticking with standard time year-round aligns better with the sun — and human biology — for more consistent sleep.

The AASM has formally adopted the position that the nation should get rid of seasonal time changes.

"Current evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety," the academy has said.

According to the AASM, shifting to daylight saving time has been linked to increased cardiovascular risks, including heart attacks, strokes and hospital admissions due to atrial fibrillation.

The transition also leads to sleep loss, circadian misalignment, and cellular disruptions that can elevate blood pressure, inflammation, and other health concerns. Beyond medical effects, DST has been associated with a rise in traffic accidents, mood disturbances, and even stock market volatility, likely due to sleep deprivation impairing judgment and decision-making, the academy said.

This year, daylight saving time will last from 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9, until 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.

And although previous efforts have failed, there’s always a chance Congress could finally act to adopt a year-round permanent time. President Donald Trump has indicated a renewed interest in ousting the practice.

“The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate daylight saving time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!” Trump said a December 2024 post on his Truth Social platform. “Daylight saving time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”

• Related: Will Trump Put An End To Daylight Saving Time?

Scientific polls indicate that most Americans support ending the twice-yearly clock changes, a sentiment echoed in Patch’s informal survey last fall.

Nearly half (49 percent) of respondents preferred making daylight saving time permanent, while 43 percent favored year-round standard time. Meanwhile, about 8 percent wanted to keep the current system of switching between the two.

• Related: Is It Time To Ditch Twice-A-Year Clock Changes? [Patch Survey]

Patch editor Beth Dalby contributed to this report.