Changing clocks ‘is stupid:’ Florida Sen. Marco Rubio reintroduces bill to make DST permanent

WASHINGTON — Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R) is reintroducing a bill in the Senate to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

Rubio and fellow Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R) have been pushing for several years to make DST permanent.

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Rubio’s new bill is called the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023. The Senate passed a version of the bill in 2022, but the bill was never taken up by the House for action.

“This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid,” Rubio said in a news release. “Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done.”

Scott, along with Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), are original cosponsors of the legislation.

2022: ‘We don’t have to keep doing this:’ Senate passes bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent

Florida U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) introduced companion legislation in the House.

“There are enormous health and economic benefits to making daylight saving time permanent,” Buchanan said in a statement. “Florida lawmakers have already voted to make daylight saving time permanent in my home state and Congress should pass the Sunshine Protection Act to move Florida and the rest of the country to year-round daylight saving time.”

While he was Florida Governor in 2018, Scott signed legislation which would exempt Florida from the time change practice and allow the state to remain on Daylight Saving Time year round.

2020: Marco Rubio among senators pressing to extend Daylight Saving Time

“Permanent daylight saving means more time in the sunshine and that’s something everybody should support,” Scott said in a statement. “Changing the clock twice a year is outdated and unnecessary. I’m proud to be leading this bipartisan legislation with Senator Rubio that makes a much-needed change and benefits so many in Florida and across the nation. When I was governor of Florida, I was proud to sign this bill into law on the state level, and I will continue this effort in Congress. We need to get it all the way over the finish line this time. It’s time for Congress to act and pass this good bill today.”

For Florida’s change to apply, however, a change in the federal statute is required. Nineteen other states — Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming — have passed similar laws, resolutions, or voter initiatives, and dozens more are looking to do so.

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California voters also authorized such a change, but legislative action is pending, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

If signed into law, the Sunshine Protection Act would apply to states that currently participate in DST, which most states observe for eight months out of the year.

States and territories that currently remain on Standard Time year-round would continue to do so, the release said. Many studies have shown that making DST permanent could benefit the economy and the country. You can click here to read a one-page summary of the bill.

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