Daylight Saving 2022: When Do Clocks Spring Forward In IL?

ILLINOIS — Just when it was starting to get lighter earlier in the mornings, it will soon be time to spring forward in Illinois.

Daylight saving time is just around the corner. This year, it begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 13, which means later sunsets, longer-seeming days and the biannual hassle of changing the time on old-school clocks.

For those who don't know, daylight saving time is the practice of setting clocks forward one hour from standard time in the spring, and back again in the fall, in order to make better use of natural daylight.

Illinois is among the 48 states that — often begrudgingly — observe daylight saving time. Hawaii and Arizona don't observe the practice, although the Navajo Nation in the Grand Canyon State does.

But it's not a popular practice across the country. Americans by a 63 percent to 16 percent margin favoring ditching daylight saving time altogether, according to a recent Economic/YouGov poll.

The reasons the United States observes daylight saving are arguably absurd — as outlined in this video.

In Illinois, legislation to provide for year-round daylight saving time passed the Senate in 2019, but failed to make it through the House. Similar bills were introduced in January and February of 2021. House Bill 2946, introduced by Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Highwood) has been referred to the House Rules Committee. House Bill 216, introduced by Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis), was also referred to the Rules Committee and has picked up an additional sponsor in Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Pana).

Multiple bills — seven, to be exact — were introduced in Illinois last year to either make DST permanent here or exempt Illinois from the federal Uniform Time Act.

Full-time DST is not currently allowed by federal law, and would require an act of Congress to make a change.

So, daylight saving time remains a thing in Illinois. And you've been warned.

Patch writers Adam Nichols and Matt Troutman contributed to this report.