Permanent daylight saving time legislation gains traction: What would change? |
Permanent daylight saving time legislation gains traction: What would change?
(NEXSTAR) – Legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent in the U.S. has gained traction after Republicans in a House committee included the language in a bill for markup.
Last year, Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Vern Buchanan, both Republicans from Florida, reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, previously championed by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Scott’s bill received bipartisan support and a committee hearing, and even advanced out of committee. The Senate tried to fast-track its version last year, only for the effort to be thwarted.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee confirmed to The Hill that Buchanan’s legislation would receive a full markup. As The Washington Post first reported, the language was included in a larger transportation funding package.
Buchanan, in a statement released Wednesday, said he was “proud” to see his bill included in the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act, explaining that it will bring “us one step closer to ending the outdated and unpopular practice of changing our clocks twice a year.”
Under the Sunshine Protection Act, states that do not exempt themselves before it takes effect would lock their clocks on the time observed between March and November. Hawaii and most of Arizona, for example, would likely remain exempt,........