WASHINGTON, July 17 (DC Times Online) — The U.S. House of Representatives voted to make daylight saving time permanent, sending a long-running time-change debate to the Senate.
The House approved H.R. 139, the Sunshine Protection Act, in a 308-117 vote, according to Reuters and other outlets that reported the roll call. A House Committee on Energy and Commerce release said the chamber passed the bill and described it as legislation to end the twice-a-year clock changes.
What the bill would do
Daylight saving time is the part of the year when clocks are set one hour ahead. Under the bill passed by the House, that time would become the nation’s permanent standard, ending the practice of moving clocks forward in spring and back in fall.
The committee release quoted Rep. Vern Buchanan, who called it his bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act and said the House had taken “an important step toward ending the outdated practice of changing our clocks twice a year.”
The committee also said the measure had earlier been included in the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act, which passed the committee by a 48-1 vote.
What happens next
Reuters reported that the House vote sends the bill to the Senate. The measure would still need Senate approval before it could reach the president’s desk.
The reporting reviewed for this article says the bill includes some kind of state-level escape hatch, but the details are described differently across outlets. Reuters, NBC News, CBS News and The New York Times all reported that states could opt out or exempt themselves under certain conditions.
Why states matter
Most of the country follows daylight saving time in the warmer months, but not everywhere does. CBS News reported that Hawaii and most of Arizona already use standard time year-round.
That makes the issue more than just a clock-setting dispute. A permanent daylight saving time law would change the timekeeping system across most of the country, but it could still leave some states on a different schedule if the bill’s exemption language is used.
The bigger picture
This vote does not end the debate by itself. It does show that the House is willing to back a nationwide change to the clock system, while the Senate still has to decide whether to take up the bill and move it forward.