Washington’s wait for permanent Daylight Saving Time could be nearing end after Senate vote

A bill that would keep the nation in Daylight Saving Time year-round was passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

Washington looks for ‘alternative’ paths to end years-long wait for permanent DST

Known as the Sunshine Protection Act, the bill has been brought forth by Senate cosponsors Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Patty Murray (D-WA) in each of the last three years, each time failing to get to a vote. That changed this week, after the proposal was approved in the Senate by unanimous consent.

Sen. Murray has long been a proponent for ending Washington state’s twice-yearly time changes, lauding Tuesday’s development as a victory for the entire country.

“Today the Senate has finally delivered on something Americans all over the country want: to never have to change their clocks again,” she said in a speech delivered on the Senate floor. “No more dark afternoons in the winter. No more losing an hour of sleep every spring. We want more sunshine during our most productive waking hours. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Americans want more sunshine and less depression — people in this country, all the way from Seattle to Miami, want the Sunshine Protection Act.”

The bill still needs to be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, but its passage in the Senate represents the first major momentum for proponents of permanent Daylight Saving Time in years.

In 2019, Washington state lawmakers passed a bill to keep Washington in Daylight Saving Time year-round, pending federal approval. That approval has been slow to arrive in the years since, although Washington Sen. Patty Murray vowed last fall to pursue “alternative paths” in Congress.

Congress pushes for analysis on Daylight Saving Time

Proponents of ending time changes have pointed to a series of benefits, including reduced crime rates, fewer vehicular accidents, and better overall health. That’s seen at least 15 states passing similar Daylight Saving Time laws over the last two years.

However, a parallel movement to revert the country to permanent Standard Time argues that the later sunrise times brought on by Daylight Saving Time can actually be harmful, pointing to a relative consensus among the scientific community.

“If we want to improve human health, we should not fight against our body clock, and therefore, we should abandon DST and return to Standard Time (which is when the sun clock time most closely matches the social clock time) throughout the year,” says the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms. “This solution would fix both the acute and the chronic problems of DST.”

A bill to keep Washington in Standard Time failed to come up for a vote in the Legislature during this last session.

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