What is the Sunshine Protection Act?
DAYLIGHT saving time is known as a practice in the United States in which Americans advance their clocks during the warmer months to give them extra light during the day.
In 2018 members of Congress proposed a new law that could get rid of this practice for good and it has gained traction in 2022.
What is the Sunshine Protection Act?
The Sunshine Protection Act is a proposed law in the United States that would make daylight saving time permanent.
Under this act, Americans would no longer have to change their clocks twice a year, ultimately getting rid of the previous Uniform Time Act.
On March 15, 2022, the Sunshine Protection Act was passed by the Senate by unanimous consent and will now be sent to the House for voting and have to be signed by President Joe Biden in order to become law.
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"You'll see it's an eclectic collection of members of the United States Senate in favor of what we've just done here in the Senate, and that's to pass a bill to make Daylight Savings Time permanent," Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said on the Senate floor, via .
"Just this past weekend, we all went through that biannual ritual of changing the clock back and forth and the disruption that comes with it. And one has to ask themselves after a while why do we keep doing it?"
"If we can get this passed, we don't have to keep doing this stupidity anymore," he continued.
At this time it remains unclear if the House will pass the proposed law.
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What is the Uniform Time Act?
On April 1, 1967, the Uniform Time Act took effect and amended the 1918 Standard Time Act.
The law is meant to "promote the adoption and observance of uniform time within the standard time zones."
In the United States, there are only two states that do not follow DST and those include Hawaii and Arizona.
DST was started as a way to conserve energy but when that failed the concept still became popular because it made the summer days longer.
The concept was first created in 1895 by George Hudson and then proposed by Benjamin Franklin.
Who proposed the Sunshine Protection Act?
The Sunshine Protection Act was first proposed in 2018 by Marco Rubio and introduced in the House in January 2021.
“The call to end the antiquated practice of clock changing is gaining momentum throughout the nation,” Rubio said in a .
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“Studies have shown many benefits of a year-round Daylight Saving Time, which is why the Florida legislature voted to make it permanent in 2018. I’m proud to reintroduce this bipartisan bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, and give our nation’s families more stability throughout the year.”
Other members of Congress who have supported the bill include James Lankford of Oklahoma, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Rick Scott of Florida, and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.