The U.S. House has passed a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent across most of the country.
The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House with a vote of 308 to 117. It next heads to the Senate, where its chances of passing remain unclear.
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The bill repeals a section of the Uniform Time Act of 1966 to end the yearly "fall back" and "spring forward" time changes. The newest version of the bill would allow states to opt out and stick to standard time. A previous incarnation of the bill in 2022 passed the Senate but ended up stalling in the House.
The bill has bipartisan support -- including from President Donald Trump, who has urged Congress several times in his second term to end the time changes. The House Energy and Commerce Committee also backed the Sunshine Protection Act 48-1 back in May.
So far, 19 states have passed laws supporting year-round daylight saving time. At least a dozen other states, including North Carolina, have also considered legislation to do the same.
However, in order for these state laws to take effect to observe year-round daylight saving time -- the federal Uniform Time Act would need to be amended to allow it. Arizona and Hawaii are the only states who've opted out to follow year-round standard time under the current rules.
Will we ever do away with the time change?
North Carolinians have broadly supported measures to eliminate the biannual time change, but at the same time lawmakers have struggled with how it should be implemented because of the impacts permanent daylight saving time would have during the winter months between November and March.
If the Sunshine Protection Act were to pass, the latest sunrise we'd see in Raleigh would be 8:33 in the morning, and the earliest sunset would just after 6 p.m. That means many school and work commutes would happen before the sun comes up during the darkest months of winter.
Sleep experts have advocated for the elimination of the biannual time change because of the health impacts and risks it can have, but they also have mixed feelings on moving to daylight saving time instead over standard time because of safety risks, particularly for school children having to navigate dark morning commutes.
It is also worth noting this would not be the first time the U.S. has tried to make daylight saving time permanent. During World War II, permanent daylight saving time was implemented as "war time" as a way to conserve energy usage, but it didn't stick around after the war.
During the energy crisis of the 1970s, then-President Richard Nixon signed permanent daylight saving time into law in 1974. It was initially a popular decision at the time, but it took less than a year for many people to change their mind after an uptick in children being hit by cars in the dark. Schools across the country started delaying their start times until after the sun came up, and by October of that year Congress voted to switch back to standard time.