The House of Representatives voted 308-117 on Tuesday to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, sending the Daylight Saving Bill to the Senate and moving the fight over permanent Daylight Saving Time to the next stage.
The vote came as supporters argued that the twice-yearly clock change has worn out its welcome. Kat Cammack said the ritual disrupts routines, throws off sleep and creates frustration for families, adding, “Let’s stop asking Americans to reset their clocks every March and November” and to give them “some certainty and consistency, and a little more sunshine at the end of the day.”
The bill would let states voluntarily observe Daylight Saving Time year-round if Congress authorizes it. Nearly 20 states have already approved measures to do that, though Hawaii and most of Arizona already stay off the seasonal switch. The White House also pressed lawmakers to back the measure in an internal memo sent to Hill offices on Tuesday, calling it a popular, common-sense reform.
Even with the lopsided House margin, the next step is where the measure runs into its hardest test. Just 22 Republicans voted no, Hakeem Jeffries opposed it, and the bill still faces skepticism from members of both parties in the Senate. Some lawmakers worry that keeping Daylight Saving Time all year could push winter sunrises past 9 a.m. in parts of the country, a tradeoff that has kept the debate alive for years.
If the Senate clears the bill and it reaches Donald Trump’s desk, he is expected to sign it. For now, the House has done its part, but the question is whether the Senate will treat the Sunshine Protection Act as a simple cleanup of the clock or as a change too large to ignore.
