Congress has finally found something both parties can mostly agree on, and it only took decades of everyone complaining about the same thing twice a year. The House of Representatives voted 308 to 117 on Tuesday to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, which would let states adopt permanent daylight saving time, as Conservative Brief reported. That is a genuinely overwhelming margin for a body that sometimes struggles to agree on what day it is, which is ironic given the subject matter.
Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida made the case on the House floor, noting that her infant son's sleep schedule gets wrecked every time the clocks change. "For decades, we have accepted this ritual of springing forward and falling back, even though it disrupts routines, throws off our sleep and creates unnecessary frustration for families across the country," she said. She added, "Let's stop asking Americans to reset their clocks every March and November. Let's provide some certainty and consistency and a little more sunshine at the end of the day." Hard to argue with a sleep deprived mom on a mission.
The vote split along interesting geographic lines rather than the usual partisan ones. Coastal state lawmakers from Florida, Louisiana, and New Jersey were generally all for it, while Midwest and agricultural state reps pushed back. House Democrats were nearly split down the middle, with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries voting against. Only 22 Republicans opposed the bill, including Reps. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Ryan Zinke of Montana, and Harriet Hageman of Wyoming.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where its fate is less certain. President Trump, who has long supported ending the clock changes, is expected to sign it if it lands on his desk. The White House even circulated an internal memo to Capitol Hill offices calling it a "popular, common-sense reform."
Nearly 20 states have already passed laws saying they would go permanent daylight saving if Congress gave them the green light. Hawaii and most of Arizona already skip the whole charade entirely, living in a state of temporal rebellion the rest of us have only dreamed about.
Opponents raised some fair points. Permanent daylight saving time would mean winter sunrises after 9 a.m. in parts of the country, which means kids heading to school in pitch darkness. Farmers would also face disruptions. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania argued on the floor that permanent standard time would be healthier, saying, "If we're going to make a permanent change that affects every American, we should follow the science and prioritize Americans' health, particularly that of the children." She also reminded everyone that we tried this exact thing in 1974 and Congress repealed it after the public hated it, according to Fox News.
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida was more optimistic, posting online, "More evening sunshine means more time with family and more time to enjoy our local restaurants, shops, and everything Florida has to offer. It's common sense. Let's get it done."
An AP-NORC poll from December found that only 12 percent of Americans actually like the current system of changing clocks twice a year. Nearly half oppose it. The remaining 40 percent apparently have no opinion, which tracks for a country where half the population forgets to change their clocks anyway.
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