Trying to preserve daylight saving time: Republican Marco Rubio says the ritual of changing the clock twice a year is “stupid” – so what do you think?
- Senator Marco Rubio hopes that when the clocks “spring forward” next Sunday, they will remain there permanently
- On Thursday, the Florida Republican reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end the twice-a-year ritual of clocks being moved.
- The bill, which has broad bipartisan support, would make daylight saving time permanent, meaning it would stay lighter at night
Senator Marco Rubio hopes that when the clocks “spring forward” next Sunday, they will remain there permanently.
On Thursday, the Florida Republican reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end clocks being moved twice a year and make daylight saving time permanent, meaning it would be lighter at night.
“This ritual of changing the time twice a year is stupid,” Rubio said in a statement. Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This congress I hope we can finally get this done.’
Last Congress, the Senate unanimously approved Rubio’s bill, but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did not propose it to be voted on in the House.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office has yet to respond to a request for comment on whether he will introduce the bill during his term.
Senator Marco Rubio reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end the twice-a-year ritual of moving the clocks back and make daylight saving time permanent, meaning it would be lighter at night
If the bill passed before November, clocks would remain permanently on daylight saving time after next weekend’s “spring forward,” rather than set back an hour in the fall
The legislation has broad bipartisan support.
In the Senate, Rubio’s co-sponsors include Republican Senators James Lankford, Tommy Tuberville, Bill Hagerty, Rick Scott, Cindy Hyde-Smith and Rand Paul, along with Democratic Senators Alex Padilla, Ed Markey, Tina Smith, Ron Wyden and Maarten Heinrich.
Florida Republican Representative Vern Buchanan introduced a companion bill into the House on Thursday.
Last year, the bill ran into roadblocks in the House — despite Pelosi saying she supported it — because there was disagreement over whether to make daylight saving time or standard time permanent.
Standard time allows for more hours of daylight in the morning during the shortest months of the year.
But proponents of the legislation argue that more sunshine in the evenings could help with everything from reducing car accidents to keeping mothers of young children healthy.
“Every mother of young children hates this time of year when alarm clocks change but baby clocks don’t,” Lankford noted.
In fact, a 2015 Brookings Institution report said robberies dropped by 27 percent due to the extra hours of sunshine.
It’s time to end the madness that changes twice a year. Science and common sense show that more daylight year-round would improve our health, help kids spend a little more time enjoying outdoor activities after school, and encourage people to support local businesses on a sunny walk in their community ,” Wyden said. “I’m all for the Sunshine Protection Act finally being passed into law.”
