As Daylight Saving Time ends, House split on making it permanent

Daylight Saving Time for 2022 ends this weekend, with clocks falling back an hour early Sunday morning. With each coming and passing of the annual tradition comes debate over whether or not to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

Back in March, the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would do just that. However, that bill has since stalled in the House. This week, a key House lawmaker said this is because the House has not been “able to find a consensus” on the topic of Daylight Saving Time yet.

“There are a broad variety of opinions about whether to keep the status quo, to move to a permanent time, and if so, what time that should be,” Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone, D-N.J., told Reuters this week. “We don’t want to make a hasty change and then have it reversed several years later after public opinion turns against it — which is exactly what happened in the early 1970s.”

Rep. Pallone previously said he backs ending the clock-switching. However, he has not decided whether to support daylight or standard time as the permanent choice.

Legislative aides told Reuters they do not expect Congress to reach agreement on Daylight Saving time before the year ends. If the bill isn’t passed by then, the Senate would need to reintroduce the bill next year.

Supporters of the bill argue that if approved, it would allow children to play outdoors later, and reduce seasonal depression. They also say the bill would prevent a slight uptick in car crashes that typically occurs around time changes. Critics say the bill will force many children to walk to school in darkness during the winter, since the measure would delay sunrise by an hour in some places.

Since 2015, about 30 states have introduced or passed legislation to end the biannual changing of clocks. Some states proposed to only if neighboring states do the same.