Spring Forward: Rubio Renews Push For Year-Round Daylight Saving Time

March 9, 2024

As people across Florida “spring forward” for the start of day saving time, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio renewed his push for permanent daylight saving time.

“We’re ‘springing forward’ but should have never ‘fallen back.’ My Sunshine Protection Act would end this stupid practice of changing our clocks back and forth,” Rubio said this week.

The Sunshine Protection Act, an amendment to the Uniform Time Act of 1996, would make daylight saving time permanent. Florida passed the amendment in 2018, but individual states cannot standardize daylight saving time under a 1996 federal law.

The Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act in March 2022, but the House has yet to approve it..

Year-round DST would reduce car crashes, reduce crime, improve physical fitness, reduce energy use and benefit agriculture, according to the bill sponsors.

Comments

19 Responses to “Spring Forward: Rubio Renews Push For Year-Round Daylight Saving Time”

  1. MargieLu on March 11th, 2024 11:42 am

    NO! Several (thousands) of folks work in Alabama or have a family member who does. The one-hour-off would be a logistics issue. If you want to get up an hour earlier to do have an extra hour of daylight, great, but don’t mandate it by the state government for the rest of us who are just fine with the status quo.

  2. Give me a break on March 10th, 2024 9:25 pm

    Y’all get on here and are going to argue against anything. This way, or that way, you’re never happy.

    Good grief, there’s bigger fish to fry than this.

    Touch the grass.

  3. SueB on March 10th, 2024 11:26 am

    Hawaii and Arizona are the only two states in the U.S. that do not observe daylight saving time. However, several overseas territories do not observe daylight saving time. Those territories include American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

    Rubio is the first Florida Republican to win three terms in the Senate. He should has how Hawaii and Arizona got rid of DST.

  4. SW on March 10th, 2024 10:31 am

    I just wish they’d pick one and stay with it.

  5. same ol same ol on March 10th, 2024 8:50 am

    Dear Olin,

    I appreciate you enjoy that extra hour of daylight with your family. That hour could also be created (by you) using scheduling or modifying work schedules.

    You think it’s okay to FORCE the entire country to a time scheme that YOU like.

    The authoritarians that originally created the DST gaslight sold it on the backs of FARMERS. (supposed to help them somehow…)

    The farmers said: We will be out in the fields waiting for the sun to come up so we can start work and we’ll be there working until the sun goes down. It does not matter what the clock says…IOW don’t blame this on us!

  6. Sam on March 10th, 2024 1:07 am

    @BJohnson – my “point” is I’m tired of paying public servants for championing a meaningless task. In case you haven’t noticed, the world is now a 24 hr a day operation. Setting the clocks ahead an hour was meant as some sort of “energy saving” idea. So – workers have to awaken in the DARK and go to bed while the sun is still up. This saves energy?
    @Olin Schultz – I enjoy playing with my grand children too and the only thing I see is they have to get ready for bed while the sun is still shining. They get up in the dark to get ready for school. No benefit here. Only a fool would believe that reducing a day by an hour would make it “longer”.
    FYI – Nixon tried making DST full year. It failed miserably.

  7. Bob on March 10th, 2024 1:05 am

    @Sam

    Welp, we’ve collectively decided that we aren’t going to do anything about the big issues, so might as well tackle the petty ones instead.

  8. George on March 9th, 2024 6:52 pm

    Weekends are for family and grandchildren, evenings are for home and resting for work the next day. Unless you have a do nothing job.

  9. Time+ on March 9th, 2024 4:15 pm

    How much would you pay to stay on DST?

  10. Olin Schultz on March 9th, 2024 2:07 pm

    Sam,
    I think, In my opinion, that rural life as you call it needs to come back and all the yuppies need to go elsewhere. Isn’t it great that we live in a society where we can have our own opinions! It makes a world of difference when some of us enjoy the DST so we can be out after work enjoying our Grandchildren and the somewhat still fresh air! The ones that say it doesn’t matter must not have families to spend day light time in the afternoons with! I say go DST full force!

  11. Steve on March 9th, 2024 1:27 pm

    Set the time and be done with it. Parts of the USA do this already.

    Past time to stop fooling with the time stamp as its purpose is long gone/.

  12. BJohnson on March 9th, 2024 12:34 pm

    @Sam…yet you take the time to comment on this “petty” thing.

  13. frank on March 9th, 2024 12:23 pm

    Permanent DST was tried in 1974 by Nixon. 74% supported mining DST permanent BEFOE the law was signed. Once the country endured the first winter under DST support dropped to 40% and the law was rescinded.

    Why are some people trying to push this through again? It has no positive effect, all the reasons given for doing this are bogus, and the negative health consequences are real.

    Yes this twice a year time change is ridiculous but the answer is to make standard time permanent not to suffer through DST.

  14. George on March 9th, 2024 12:15 pm

    Most of us do not care one way or the other. There is 24 hours in the day and that always remains the same.

  15. anne on March 9th, 2024 11:44 am

    Yep! What we need for sure is another hour in the 99 degree sun this summer. Let’s not expect the sun to set early when it is soooo hot.

  16. RA on March 9th, 2024 11:39 am

    @Sam, totally in agreement.

  17. jb on March 9th, 2024 10:53 am

    we voted for and passed this bill in 2018 and congress needed to approve it–and therein lies the problem– these wealthy-lazy-old farts could care less what we want or vote for—LIMIT their time to screw us to 4 year

  18. same ol same ol on March 9th, 2024 8:15 am

    Every Congress it’s the same…

    Bill gets introduced to end DST but never even gets out of committee…why?
    Some say because they love having the authority to tell us what time it is.

    But they’ve always had that. Time standards have always been established by government agency. Kinda helps the trains run on time.

    With DST they get to jab the whole country in the ribs and REMIND all us deplorable saps. “Yes, yes, we get to tell you what time it is. Now go change your clocks!

  19. Sam on March 9th, 2024 6:30 am

    With every thing that’s going on – Rubio is worried about the time changing. Really? Sounds sort of petty to me. Daylight Savings time is a farce. An idea conceived during a time when life was far more rural. It’s outdated and should be done away with.