Enlarge / The United States may finally end its inconsistent, century-long relationship with changing its clocks twice a year. (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the US Senate lodged a rare unanimous vote on a bill that could have drastic technological and transportation implications: a permanent, year-round adherence to daylight saving time (DST).
The one-page “Sunshine Protection Act,” as co-sponsored by Sens. Marc Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), is now cleared for a vote in the House of Representatives after passing by unanimous consent in the Senate. This bill, as originally filed in 2018 and reintroduced in 2021, would reverse the Calder Act’s introduction of a twice-a-year clock-change process in 1918, along with its eventual reinforcement by the Uniform Time Act of 1966.
The result would permanently leave clocks and timetables in the “spring forward” state of DST beginning in 2023, with the exception of states that had previously established specific time-change rules based on issues like different time zones in the same state. In terms of US politics, it’s unclear whether either major American party will mount serious opposition in the House to its eventual vote there—and President Joe Biden has yet to announce his stance on the bill.
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