Let there be light!
A bill supported by former President Trump, which aims to make daylight saving time a year-round fixture, is gaining traction and receiving support from both parties. This change would result in sunsets occurring later during the bleak winter months.
On Tuesday evening, the US House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act. This legislation has the potential to eliminate the long-standing habit of changing the clocks twice a year.
The significant bill overcame a crucial hurdle on Monday when the House Rules Committee sanctioned the rule with a 6-4 vote.
Trump expressed his approval of the legislation, sharing on Truth Social that it could be a “very nice WIN for the Republican Party. Take it!”
What is the Sunshine Protection Act?
The House and Senate versions of the bill both seek to make daylight saving time permanent. This would eliminate the biannual time change in the Spring and Fall — a practice currently followed by every US state except Hawaii and parts of Arizona.
Under the bill, Americans would spring the clocks forward in March and skip “falling back” in November, according to The Hill.
Language from the bill, which Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Florida) introduced, was already included in a broader transportation proposal in May that passed by roll call vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Proponents have argued that sparing Americans from the biannual time change would boost outdoor recreation, tourism, and economic activity, and lessen negative impacts on sleep and seasonal depression.
Detractors have said the switch would greatly impact farmers who would have to cope with later sunrises.
Last October, the Senate tried to fast-track a version of the act, but the effort was ultimately thwarted, the outlet reported.
If the measure passes the House on Tuesday, it will head to the Senate before landing on Trump’s desk for approval.
How would the new bill affect New York?
If permanent daylight saving time is enacted, summers would remain the same as they are now, though there would be later sunrises and sunsets.
However, winter sunrises and sunsets would drastically change.
In New York, the latest sunrise when daylight saving time ends in the fall is 7:20 a.m., and the earliest sunset is 4:28 p.m.
But with permanent daylight saving time, the latest sunrise in the Big Apple would be 8:20 a.m., and the earliest sunset would be 5:28 p.m.
The switch would make for a darker early morning commute, but offer more daylight into the evening hours as people leave the office.
Nineteen states — Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — have already passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent if Congress passes the Sunshine Protection Act, The Hill reported.
New York Senate Bill 3380 to make daylight saving time permanent year-round — pending federal legislation to allow the switch — was introduced in January 2025 and remains in the Senate Judiciary Committee.