Is anyone in the United States looking forward to losing an hour of sleep tonight?
Every year, millions of Americans begrudgingly set their clocks forward one hour in the spring. This twice-yearly, five-decade-old tradition known as Daylight Saving Time (DST) has long been a point of contention.
As The Dallas Express has previously reported, DST has been relatively unpopular since it was implemented in the U.S. in 1918. A fight led by farmers in 1919 saw DST repealed everywhere but in industrial cities such as New York City and Chicago. DST was reimplemented during World War II, but haphazardly.
Finally, due to transit issues, the 1966 Uniform Time Act mandated the use of DST across the country. However, the law also allowed states to opt out and exempt themselves from the practice. Nonetheless, it does not permit states to permanently establish DST, which would eliminate the need to “fall back” in November after advancing their clocks forward in the spring.
Despite this limitation, many states have passed measures to stay on DST permanently, per WFAA. The National Conference of State Legislatures claims that 19 states have passed legislation or resolutions supporting year-round DST.
On the federal level, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) Sunshine Protection Act, of which he has introduced multiple versions in the past few years, would permanently establish the country’s DST.
This movement is known as “lock the clock” on social media.
In Texas, lawmakers including Rep. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) and Rep. Vikki Goodwin (R-Austin) have filed more than a dozen pieces of legislation related to DST, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Some aim to make it permanent while others call for voters to decide.
Yet no matter how many bills or laws are filed, Congress would need to repeal the Uniform Time Act for any to take effect.
Whether Texas will one day join Hawaii and most of Arizona — the only U.S. states that do not observe DST — or manage to bypass the Uniform Time Act and keep DST year-round is yet to be seen.
What is known for sure is that all residents of the Lone Star State will lose at least one hour of sleep tonight as the conflict rages on.
