House passes bill to may Daylight Saving Time permanent

The House of Representatives has passed the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationwide. Although the bill has support from the White House, its fate in the Senate is uncertain. Policymakers have long debated the pros and cons of Daylight Saving Time. Most acknowledge that moving clocks an hour ahead in the springtime and an hour back in the fall creates unwelcome disruption. There has been debate as to whether the best solution was to make Daylight Saving Time permanent or do away with it in favor of permanent Standard Time.

Permanent Daylight Saving Time means later sunrises and earlier sunsets year round. The benefit is that workers will have more daylight in the afternoon to do outdoor activities or run errands after work. The drawback is that during winter months, children would be going to school and most adults would be going to work before the sun rises, which could make morning commutes more dangerous. There is a competing bill to the Sunshine Protection Act called the Sunshine for Our Kids Act which would instead make Standard Time permanent.

One way to remedy the problem of later sunrises would be to start school and work days an hour later. There are studies showing that a later start to the school day would have health and academic benefits for school kids. Many workplaces are also experimenting with reducing weekly working hours, and a later start to the work day could be a logical step towards improving work-life balance. However, while many workplaces have seen no loss in productivity by reducing working hours, this may not be true for all industries or types of working environments.

Mississippi is one of 19 states that have passed laws to make Daylight Saving Time permanent if federal law ever allows for it. Currently, federal law allows states to adopt permanent Standard Time but not permanent Daylight Saving Time. Currently, Arizona and Hawaii observe permanent year-round Standard Time.