If you are like me, Spring Forward and Fall Back are two annoying days every year that throw off my sleeping pattern. They’re like those holidays that are based on the Lunar calendar so they’re not on the same day every year (looking at you, Easter). But today, I write this blog as an educated man, and after several Google searches about Daylight Saving Time (DST), here is what I learned.
Quick facts about DST:
- DST starts on the second Sunday of March (Spring Forward) and ends on the first Sunday of November (Fall Back) every year… not something I learned in public school.
- Every U.S. state, except Arizona, Hawaii, and the U.S. Territories, participates in DST.
If you have made it this far, then you know more than I did before my research! But here is where we start getting nerdy.
The idea of DST started with Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century, when he wrote that waking up closer to sunrise meant that he got more hours of sunlight and spent less money on smoky and expensive candles (who doesn’t like saving money?!). The first time that DST was implemented in the U.S. was World War I, as a temporary measure to conserve energy consumption. President Franklin D. Roosevelt re-implemented DST during World War II for the same reason, but he let the states/localities choose whether to continue with DST for themselves after the war. This obviously caused a LOT of confusion across the country. An article on foxweather.com had a great example of the confusion: a simple 35-mile bus ride from Steubenville, OH to Moundsville, WV meant crossing seven time zones!
DST wasn’t standardized until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson). According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the law “establishes a system of uniform Daylight Saving Time throughout the Nation and its possessions, and provides either Congress or the Secretary of Transportation the ability to change time-zone boundaries.” The law also provided every state with the option to opt out of DST and stay on Standard time year-round (an important detail).
Flash-forward to 2021: Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) introduced the Sunshine Protection Act to the Senate, which proposes that the U.S. stay in DST permanently. The main justification for the bill was economic, citing that more sunlight in the evenings would lead to money being spent. This was supported by reports from convenience store owners who stated that they saw an annual uptick in sales during DST. And it worked! The bill passed the Senate… but never made it to the House because they thought that there were more urgent issues at the time. In 2023, Senator Rubio partnered with Representative Vern Buchanan (R-Florida) to reintroduce the bill, but the voices against the bill were more active. The primary opposition to the Sunshine Protection Act came from the medical field, stating that permanent DST would be harmful to our health. Many medical professionals who opposed the bill were in favor of the opposite: permanent Standard time.
So where are we now? Well the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 was introduced to the House on January 3, by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Florida). This would make DST the new, permanent standard time in the U.S. with exemptions for states that don’t currently participate in DST. Some states have also decided to take matters into their own hands. Over the past seven years, there have been over 750 bills and resolutions that have been proposed at the state level (according to the National Conference of State Legislatures). Does this mean that it could go to the states?
To quote the Pirate Captain, from the short film “So You Want to be a Pirate!” (2012)
Remember what I said about the Uniform Time Act of 1966? The states and localities have the option to opt out of DST and stay on standard time year-round. That is why the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 wants to redefine what “standard time” is.
Now that you know a little bit more about Daylight Saving Time, what side are you on? No changes to the status quo, permanent DST, or permanent standard time?
