US senators reintroduce bill to make daylight saving time permanent
About a year after the Senate unanimously voted to abolish clock swapping, a bipartisan group of 12 U.S. senators on Thursday reintroduced legislation
that would make daylight saving time permanent.With supporters arguing for brighter afternoons and increased economic activity,
The U.S. House of Representatives was unable to vote on the bill last year due to a disagreement about whether to preserve standard time
or permanently observe daylight saving time, according to Representative Frank Pallone.
The "Sunshine Protection Act" was reintroduced by Florida Republican Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, together with 10 other senators,
including Democrats Ed Markey and Ron Wyden, and a sister piece of legislation was submitted in the House by Representative Vern Buchanan.
Scott declared, "Changing the clock twice a year is archaic and pointless. "This time, we must cross the finish line fully. Congress needs to take action right away and enact this beneficial bill."
In the US, daylight saving time, which causes the clocks to advance by an hour, starts up again on March 12 and lasts until Nov. 5, when they are set back by an hour.
Supporters claim that the shift would allow kids to play outside later and lessen seasonal sadness. Millions of schoolchildren would have to attend courses in the dark for a portion of the school year
according to critics of the proposal. DST, according to some sleep specialists, makes it more difficult to be awake in the morning.
Since 2015, over 30 states have submitted legislation to do away with the two-times-per-year clock change, with some stating that they will only do so if their surrounding states follow suit.
The modification, according to proponents, would avert a minor increase in auto accidents that often happens around time changes.
They contend that the policy might benefit companies like golf courses, which might see an increase in business with more evening daylight.
After being experimented with in 1918, daylight saving time has been observed in practically all of the United States since the 1960s. In an effort to save energy during the 1973 oil embargo
year-round daylight saving time was reinstated after being employed during World War Two. It was then removed the following year.
Arizona and Hawaii, which don't observe DST, would be able to maintain standard time under the proposed legislation.