Senate Adopts Murray Bill To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent

OLYMPIA, WA — If all goes right, we may never have to "spring forward" and lose another precious hour of sleep ever again. That's because this week the Senate approved Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, and avoid having to change our clocks back come fall.

The bill was sponsored by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) and received unanimous, bipartisan support from the Senate. Following its passage, Murray took to the floor to urge the House of Representatives to approve the bill, and it to President Biden as soon as possible.

“Today the Senate has finally delivered on something Americans all over the country want: to never have to change their clocks again,” Murray said. “No more dark afternoons in the winter. No more losing an hour of sleep every spring. We want more sunshine during our most productive waking hours. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Americans want more sunshine and less depression—people in this country, all the way from Seattle to Miami, want the Sunshine Protection Act.”

This is not the first time Murray has made a similar pitch. Last year, Murray and Rubio also introduced a Sunshine Protection Act to do away with the biannual time change, but it did not clear Congress in time— a mistake Murray doesn't want to see repeated.

“The clock is ticking to get the job done so we never have to switch our clocks again," Murray said. "So I urge my colleagues in the House to act as swiftly as the Senate."

63 percent of Americans would like to ditch daylight savings permanently, according to a recent Economic/YouGov poll. 22 states this year have introduced legislation this year to switch to year-round daylight saving time, year-round standard time or allow voters to decide the issue, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Another 18 — including Washington — have trigger laws on the books that would take effect if Congress were to allow such a change.

Daylight saving time has been around since World War I. But it became the law of the land more than 50 years ago with the Uniform Time Act of 1966, though the exact dates — now the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November — have changed some over the years.

Proponents argue that longer evenings motivate people to get out of the house. The extra hour of daylight can be used for outdoor recreation such as golf, soccer, baseball, running and more. It also benefits the tourism industry.

However, critics say the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. The time change can mess with our body clocks and circadian rhythms, making for some restless nights and sleepy days. It also is difficult to quantify the economic cost of the collective tiredness caused by daylight saving time, but studies have found a decrease in productivity after the spring transition.