What permanent daylight saving time would look like in your state

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(NEXSTAR) – The U.S. is one step closer to observing daylight saving time year-round after the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act on Tuesday. The bill passed on a 308-117 vote, sending the legislation to the Senate.

Should the Senate pass the bill, it seems likely that President Trump would sign it into law. He earlier this year spoke highly of the bill, saying it could be “a very nice WIN for the Republican Party. Take it!”

If that were to happen, you wouldn’t notice a change right away.

Most of the U.S. is already observing daylight saving time. We’ll continue to do so until November, when clocks “fall back” an hour to standard time.

It’s when the bill takes effect that you’ll start to notice changes.

The Sunshine Protection Act would require states to observe year-round daylight saving time unless they exempt themselves before it takes effect. Presumably, only two states are exempt so far: Hawaii and the parts of Arizona that do not change their clocks twice a year. Both states observe standard time (the time we observe from November to March) year-round.

Daylight saving time-related legislation in other states varies.

Nineteen states – Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming – have already passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent should Congress allow the move.

State lawmakers in a handful of other states are still considering legislation that would make standard time permanent.

What would permanent daylight saving time look like?

It’s the sunrises and sunsets from November through February that would be noticeably different. Winter sunsets in much of the U.S. would occur after 5 p.m., a huge improvement for those who experience sunsets at 4 o’clock hour now. Sunrises, though, would largely happen after 8 a.m. – and in some areas, after 9 a.m.

The table below shows the latest sunrises and earliest sunsets across multiple U.S. cities during the fall months, as well as what those times would switch to on permanent daylight saving time.

Having the sun set later in winter may be enticing, but it’s the late sunrises that opponents of permanent daylight saving time have expressed concerns about.

The map below, courtesy of Nexstar’s WKRN, shows more broadly how late the sun would rise across the continental U.S.

For many, the latest the sun would rise in parts of winter would be between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. In other portions of the country, sunrise would happen closer to – or even after – 10 a.m.

Why year-round daylight saving time failed in the past

When the U.S. observed year-round daylight saving time in the 1970s, the late winter sunrises became a sticking point.

Parents found themselves sending their children off to school in morning darkness – in some parts of the country, the sun would not rise until nearly 9 a.m. – prompting safety concerns. There were multiple incidents nationwide of children being struck by vehicles while on their way to school, including eight fatalities in Florida.

While the U.S. Department of Transportation found no clear evidence on traffic accidents in relation to year-round daylight saving time — it also found that energy savings were between 0.4% and 1.5% — public opinion of the practice had dropped to 42% by February 1974.

The U.S. quickly ditched permanent daylight saving time, transitioning to the twice-a-year practice of changing the clocks that we largely observe today.

Will daylight saving time become permanent in 2026?

It’s difficult to say when, if ever, the Senate will pick up the Sunshine Protection Act that the House passed on Tuesday.

The Senate tried to fast-track its version of the Sunshine Protection Act last October, only for the effort to be thwarted. At the time, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) noted the complicated history of permanent daylight saving time in the U.S., the possible darkness of winter mornings in some states, and the health benefits of permanent standard time while issuing his objection.

“I don’t like the biannual clock change any more than the rest of you do,” Cotton said while delivering remarks on the Senate floor, adding later on that “not every human problem has a legislative solution.”

Congress is already considering multiple daylight saving time-related pieces of legislation. That includes the Senate version of the Sunshine Protection Act, two bills in the House that would give states the option to observe year-round daylight saving time, a bill to make half-daylight saving time permanent, and a newly introduced bill to make standard time permanent, with exceptions.

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