House to Vote on Year-Round Daylight Saving Time While Bill for Permanent Standard Time Is Introduced

The House is scheduled to vote on legislation that would establish daylight saving time as the year-round standard. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, sponsored the Sunshine Protection Act, one of six measures in Congress that seek to eliminate the twice-yearly clock adjustments.

All other House bills on the topic remain in the Energy and Commerce Committee. Sen. Rick Scott, also a Florida Republican, advanced a companion measure through the Senate Commerce Committee. Daylight saving time proposals have increased during the current session.

Two of the six bills would allow states to decide whether to observe daylight saving time year-round without a federal requirement. Rep. Celeste Maloy, a Utah Republican, introduced the Daylight Act to give states that option.

Rep. Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, offered a similar measure. Current law permits states to remain on standard time year-round, as Arizona and Hawaii do, but does not allow states to adopt permanent daylight saving time.

Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, proposed a compromise that would advance clocks by a half hour from standard time and end seasonal changes; his bill did not reach the floor in the prior Congress. A separate measure introduced Thursday would lock the country on permanent standard time.

Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Pennsylvania Democrat, and Pat Harrigan, a North Carolina Republican, sponsored the Sunshine for Our Kids Act.