In 2019, Washington legislators almost unanimously voted to get rid of daylight saving time. However, they still need approval from Congress. Most of the country will turn clocks back an hour this Sunday, November 5th. The state continues waiting for federal action.
When 2 AM hits on November 5th, clocks will “fall back” one hour. People gain an extra hour of sleep. Sunrise also comes earlier and night falls well before 7 PM. It won’t be until March that we change clocks forward again.
Last March, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the “Sunshine Protection Act.” However, the House has yet to address it.
Washington Representative Marcus Riccelli sponsored the state bill. He said the issue was the number one thing colleagues emailed him about.
Riccelli doesn’t know why Congress hasn’t passed a bipartisan bill. He thinks the public wants an easy win to show Congress isn’t broken.
Why Was Daylight Saving Time Created?
Germany first introduced daylight saving during World War I to conserve power by extending daylight hours.
In 1918, the U.S. passed the Standard Time Act, the first national daylight saving time. The temporary “war time” lasted spring to fall, cutting energy costs in World War I. It also created the five time zones still used.
In 1966, the Department of Transportation got power over time zones and daylight saving. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized daylight saving time from April’s last Sunday to October’s last Sunday.
Few changes have happened since. Most recently, in 2005 former President Bush extended daylight saving a few weeks. It now goes from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
Despite the national rule, Arizona and Hawaii don’t do daylight saving. States can opt out of daylight saving and stay on standard time. But they can’t remain on daylight time. If you want you can also read- Arizona Time Zone: Always on Mountain Time [The Reasons Behind]
The U.S. has tried year-round daylight saving twice before – during World War II to conserve fuel and in 1974 as an “energy crisis trial run.”
While some believe daylight saving reduces energy use, traffic and crime, studies from 1975 and 2005 found the changes were “statistically insignificant.” The 2005 study did find each extra day of daylight saving lowered electricity use by 0.5%.
You May Find Interest: USA Time Zone Map: The Simplest Way to Know What Time It Is in the USA
