Washington Sen. Murray says she’s ‘all in’ on move to permanent Daylight Saving Time

Washington Senator Patty Murray penned a joint editorial with Florida Senator Marco Rubio in USA Today this week, indicating that she’s “all in” on ensuring that the state — and rest of the country — stays in Daylight Saving Time permanently.

Has Washington finally done its last ‘spring forward’?

Rubio and Murray joined up last year to keep the country in Daylight Saving Time for good, but ultimately failed to get their joint bill to a vote in the U.S. Senate. Now, they’re reintroducing the Sunshine Protection Act, hoping that they have more momentum this time around.

“Our Sunshine Protection Act already has 12 cosponsors in the Senate and, as dozens of states around the country consider adopting their own measures to enact permanent DST, it’s clear that momentum is growing,” their editorial reads.

Proponents of permanent Daylight Saving Time have pointed to a series of benefits, including reduced crime rates, fewer vehicular accidents, and better overall health. The hope is that with the latest — and likely last — large-scale COVID relief bill now passed, the focus can turn to what’s proven to be a widely popular concept.

How to deal with inevitable fatigue you’ll feel after springing forward

“There’s reason to believe that permanent DST would see economic pay-offs, too,” the editorial continues. “Studies have shown reduced economic activity in standard time. Making DST permanent could offset this, as well as lead to greater energy savings across the country.”

Whether this latest effort succeeds remains to be seen, although Murray noted on Twitter that she is “all in on getting this done.”

Marco Rubio and I may not agree on much, but we do agree on this: permanent daylight saving time.

I'm all in on getting this done. https://t.co/zkqzCy4DEp

— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) March 25, 2021

Meanwhile, Washington has been stuck in a holding pattern since 2019, when the Legislature passed a bill to keep the state in Daylight Saving Time. In the years since, it has been waiting on a federal waiver to enact the bill, a process that was held up in 2020 by the pandemic.

Other states and territories that currently observe Daylight Saving Time year-round include American Samoa, Guam, the Minor Outlying Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Both Hawaii and Arizona (with the exception of tribal lands) observe standard time year-round, and would be allowed to continue doing so under Murray and Rubio’s bill.

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