Spring forward. Fall back. Will Senate vote get rid of that?

Scott Yates will be the first to admit that his signature campaign issue may not seem like a big deal.

With the slogan “Improving your life, one hour at a time,” the former journalist and tech startup founder launched his campaign to be the Democratic representative for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District earlier this year with a promise to #LocktheClock and end America’s biannual time change. It may not seem like much, says Mr. Yates, who also hopes to address student debt and climate change in Congress, but ending the time change could be a step toward repairing Americans’ faith in Washington. 

“Daylight saving time isn’t the most important issue in the world, but it is an example of something that is broken and that we can fix,” says Mr. Yates. “So let’s do that first, and then we can fix what comes next.” 

This was a monumental week for DST activists like Mr. Yates. On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent. 

Daylight saving begins on the second Sunday in March, when almost all Americans move their clocks one hour ahead (often referred to as “spring forward”) and ends the first Sunday of November, when Americans revert to standard time (known as “fall back”). Under the Sunshine Protection Act, Americans would “fall back” to standard time in November, “spring forward” again in March 2023, and then stay forward forever. 

Sponsored by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida, the bill passed by unanimous consent, meaning that no senator objected. The Sunshine Protection Act still needs to pass the House and be signed by President Joe Biden before it can become law, but at a time when gridlock so often reigns in Washington and international relations feel dire, proponents say this week’s passage added a little light to their day. 

“We had no idea it was going to be on the docket. It came out of nowhere,” says Kevin Rosneck, who works in health care systems north of Detroit. He started a pro-daylight saving time Facebook group three years ago that has grown to several hundred members – a politically diverse mix from across the country. 

“Someone once described it as ‘a little big thing’ and I think that’s it,” says Mr. Rosneck. “By and large, the country just hates the time change, whether it be for daylight saving or standard time. They just can’t stand moving the clock, and I think that’s what brought a lot of folks together.” 

The pros and cons of DST

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from October found that only one-quarter of respondents preferred to “switch back and forth” between daylight saving and standard time. Three-quarters of respondents would like the United States to stick with one time – a level of agreement not found on other prevalent issues asked about in the survey. But that majority was split between preferring daylight saving time (which gives more sunlight in the evening) and standard time (which gives more sunlight in the morning), with about 10% more preferring standard time.

Many Northerners, who struggle with high-latitude-induced early sunsets, are in the pro-daylight saving group. “We have sunset in Rhode Island at 4:15 – 4:15!” said Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse earlier this week, adding that this leaves most workers commuting home in the dark. Pro-daylight saving advocates also point to studies that show robbery rates decreasing when there is more light later in the day. 

Those on the other side of the debate, such as the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, say lighter mornings and darker evenings are more in line with the body’s natural circadian rhythm, encouraging more productive days and better nights of sleep. This timing also makes students’ commutes to school safer, argues the group Save Standard Time, and it improves productivity for people whose workday is tied to the sunrise for religious or agricultural reasons. Standard time proponents argue that daylight saving time is promoted by lobbyists in the tourism, golf, and retail industries who have found a correlation between brighter evenings and consumer spending.

But one great aspect of the Sunshine Protection Act, says Mr. Yates, is that it allows states to make their own decision between daylight saving versus standard time. States could choose to be on standard time year-round – as Arizona and Hawaii already do – as long as they do so before November 2023, when the Sunshine Protection Act would go into effect. This would allow states to use the next year and a half to study their sunrises and sunsets and decide what works best for them.

How time changes got started

In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson followed the lead of European Allies and adopted daylight saving time as an effort to conserve energy with additional daylight hours during World War I. The measure was dropped when the war ended, and didn’t resurface until World War II, when daylight saving time – referred to as “war time” – was again mandated nationally by President Franklin Roosevelt. That, too, was repealed after the war, and localities could choose whether to observe the time change, until it was nationalized with the 1966 Uniform Time Act. 

While the change was initiated to save energy, there’s no consensus about whether it achieves that goal. Some studies say the small savings from DST add up to a lot, some say the switch actually increases energy demand, and others show no effect on energy use.

One thing that does seem clear is that people don’t like changing between the two times. 

Since 2015, more than 450 bills and resolutions have been introduced in almost every state, says Jim Reed, who covers the topic for the National Conference of State Legislatures. And in the past four years, 18 states have enacted legislation or resolutions that would switch them to DST full time, pending a federal law change. 

“It’s really the act of time changing that’s the problem,” says Mr. Reed. “Now that the U.S. Senate has acted, I think the debate is going to become more robust to the benefits one way or another on standard versus daylight.”

Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to reflect that the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act by “unanimous consent,” meaning no senator objects (and no roll call vote is taken).