The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday to pass a bill making daylight saving time permanent and ending the twice-yearly practice of changing clocks that has been observed across most of the United States since the 1960s.
The 308-117 vote sends the bill to the Senate. If enacted, clocks would no longer return to standard time in November, though states could opt out of year-round daylight saving time if they do not observe it currently or voted to adopt permanent standard time before the law was changed.
Supporters say changing the clocks disrupts sleep, increases workplace injuries and contributes to more road accidents. They also argue that keeping clocks an hour ahead year-round would provide more evening daylight and boost economic activity during the winter months.
Critics say the change would mean the sun rises an hour later on winter mornings, leaving more children traveling to school and commuters, construction workers, farmers and others heading to work before daylight. In some places the sun would not rise until nearly 9 a.m. or later at the height of winter.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for an end to the twice-yearly clock changes and strongly supports the measure and the White House said Tuesday it "would eliminate the time, hassle, and cost involved in changing clocks twice a year, saving Americans hundreds of millions of dollars in value annually."
The bill still faces opposition from Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, and others. Cotton has argued that permanent daylight saving time would result in very late winter sunrises and force children in many parts of the country to go to school in darkness.
On Monday, House lawmakers rejected a request to vote on an alternative proposal that would have made standard time, rather than daylight saving time, permanent.
Airlines for America, a group representing major U.S. air carriers, raised concerns, saying the bill would "have considerable implications for aviation, including passenger disruption, crew and aircraft positioning, and domestic and international connectivity issues... Any changes would need an implementation timeline that reflects these global complications."
In May, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 48-1 in favor of the Sunshine Protection Act. The U.S. Senate voted unanimously in March 2022 to make daylight saving time permanent but the House never took up the measure in the face of opposition. Hawaii and Arizona do not observe daylight saving time.
The U.S. used year-round daylight saving time during World War Two and enacted it again in 1974 to reduce energy use. But it proved deeply unpopular and Congress repealed it later that year.
Democratic Representative Frank Pallone said on Tuesday that commuting and work habits have changed and far fewer school children walk to school. "It's time to finally end the process of springing forward and falling back," Pallone said.
Source: Reuters
--Agencies
