On May 21, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted in favor of referring the “Sunshine Protection Act” to the House.
WASHINGTON — As a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent across the United States advances in Washington, D.C., Washington state has already shown its support for the change.
On May 21, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted in favor of referring the “Sunshine Protection Act” to the House. If it receives congressional approval and is signed off by President Donald Trump, it would end the semi-annual changing of clocks.
It would also end a years-long effort in Washington state and 17 others that have passed legislation or resolutions in support of permanent daylight saving time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The only two U.S. states where people will not have to adjust their clocks are Arizona and Hawaii. Federal law allows states to opt-out of daylight saving time, but it doesn’t allow states to do the opposite. Hawaii and Arizona both operate on standard time year-round.
In 2019, lawmakers passed a bill, with bipartisan support, that would switch Washington to permanent daylight saving time. The bill was signed by then-Gov. Jay Inslee, but couldn’t take effect without federal government approval.
In an attempt to sidestep the federal approval process, Washington state lawmakers introduced a bill for the 2024 session that would switch the state permanently to standard time instead, a right all states are allowed to exercise without the approval of Congress. The bill, which received bipartisan support in the Senatefailed to make it out of the State Government & Elections Committee in time for full consideration.
At the federal level, lawmakers have been trying to make the switch happen for years. However, the effort has historically fallen by the wayside in light of larger issues. A 2022 version of the Sunshine Protection Act passed in the Senate, but failed to move out of the House.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) reintroduced the bipartisan bill with Sen. Scott Rick (R-FL), but that Senate version of the Sunshine Protect Act has yet to leave committee.
“Every year, more Americans grow more frustrated setting their clocks back and forth, and every winter folks in Washington state despair at the prospect of losing an hour of precious sunlight when we are forced off Daylight Saving Time,” Murray said in announcing the bill. “That growing frustration has also meant growing momentum, across the country and across the political spectrum, for the Sunshine Protection Act … This is about public health, it is about our economy, and it’s about just putting a little more light in families’ lives so they can spend time together, outdoors, in the sunshine.”
The change is not without its critics.
Prior to the House Energy and Commerce Committee vote, Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Cali.) said that while she’s tired of changing clocks twice a year, making daylight saving time permanent poses health and safety issues. Citing health professionals, she said standard time “aligns with the human body’s natural circadian rhythm.” The human body is “built to wake up with morning light,” she said, citing the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
