SALT LAKE CITY — A bill to end the back-and-forth of Daylight Saving Time cleared the U.S. Senate on Tuesday in a unanimous vote.
The bill, named the "Sunshine Protection Act," would put the United States on permanent Daylight Saving Time. It is sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, with bipartisan support. The bill still has to pass the U.S. House of Representatives and be signed into law by President Biden.
Meanwhile, the sponsor of the ill-fated bill to end the changing of the clocks in Utah is not giving up. Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, sponsored a bill to have Utah spring ahead and stay ahead. The bill got a hearing, but faced push back from the ski and golf industries and didn't go any further.
Sen. McCay countered that there still are only 24 hours in a day.
"Nothing changes. The sun comes up at the same time. It’s just these artificial devices, right? Or the watches come in that tell us what time of day it is. If we change the way we thought about things, just a little bit, none of these time change things would be relevant," he said in an interview Tuesday with FOX 13 News.
Daylight Saving Time is surprisingly a top constituent complaint to the legislature, but people cannot agree if they want to spring ahead and stay ahead or fall behind and stay behind. Lawmakers also dismiss the bill in the face of more pressing issues and a multi-billion dollar budget.
Asked if he planned to push it again next year, Sen. McCay said: "Absolutely. Daylight savings has got to go. It’s an antiquated process and at some point, I’m looking forward to stopping torturing most of the population of the state of Utah."
