TAMPA, Fla — Keep Daylight Saving Time all year.
That's the message Rep. Vern Buchanan has for Congress as he pushes for the passage of the Sunshine Protection Act.
The Republican congressman is advocating for legislation to keep the U.S. in Daylight Saving Time just as Americans get ready to set their clocks back an hour this weekend.
“There are enormous health and economic benefits to making daylight saving time permanent,” Buchanan said. “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.”
Rep. Buchanan isn't the only lawmaker who thinks changing clocks back and forth every year is a bad idea.
In September, Florida's two U.S. Senators pushed to keep the country on Daylight Saving Time because of the coronavirus pandemic. Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a bill that would not only keep Americans from "falling back" in November but also avoid changing clocks in March 2021 when the United States typically springs forward.
In March 2019, Senator Rubio introduced the Sunshine Protection Act for the second time in the Senate. Like the House version, it would make DST permanent across the country.
The Sunshine Protection Act was signed into law in Florida in March 2018 by then-Governor Rick Scott, but Congress still has to pass legislation allowing Florida to have year-round Daylight Saving Time.
Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, Nov. 1, and starts again on March 14.
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