US House to vote on competing bills addressing daylight saving time

Jul 9, 2026

The U.S. House of Representatives is preparing to address competing proposals regarding daylight saving time. While lawmakers plan to vote on a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon and Pat Harrigan introduced the Sunshine for Our Kids Act of 2026 to establish permanent standard time instead. Supporters of permanent daylight saving argue it boosts tourism and recreation, whereas health organizations and safety advocates warn of health risks and point to a failed 1974 experiment.

Sunshine for Our Kids Act

▪The Sunshine for Our Kids Act of 2026 would end the automatic twice-a-year time change and establish permanent standard time as the default.
▪Democratic Representative Mary Gay Scanlon and Republican Representative Pat Harrigan introduced H.R. 9638, the Sunshine for Our Kids Act of 2026, on July 9, 2026.
▪The Sunshine for Our Kids Act of 2026 would repeal the section of the Uniform Time Act that makes daylight saving time the default practice.

Health impacts of time changes

▪Supporters of making daylight saving time permanent state that twice-yearly clock changes cause sleep disturbances, increased workplace injuries, and more car crashes.
▪The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the American Medical Association, and the National Sleep Foundation advocate for year-round standard time.

Standard time versus daylight saving

▪The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, which would allow states to opt out.
▪The U.S. Senate voted unanimously in March 2022 to make daylight saving time permanent, but the U.S. House of Representatives did not pass the measure.
▪Permanent standard time results in earlier sunrises and sunsets, while permanent daylight saving time results in later sunrises and sunsets.
▪President Donald Trump has advocated for ending twice-annual clock switching, calling the practice a ridiculous, twice-yearly production.

Florida permanent DST efforts

▪Representative Vern Buchanan of Florida proposed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, which is popular in Florida to allow more evening recreation.
▪In 2018, Florida passed legislation to establish year-round daylight saving time, which requires congressional approval to take effect.

1974 yearround DST experiment

▪The United States enacted year-round daylight saving time in 1974 to reduce energy use, but Congress repealed it later that year due to unpopularity.
▪During the 1974 year-round daylight saving time experiment, six Florida schoolchild deaths were attributed to children traveling to school in darkness.