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Utah congresswoman among latest to introduce year-round Daylight Saving Time legislation

Posted at 10:49 AM, Mar 11, 2024
and last updated 2024-03-11 18:24:30-04

WASHINGTON — With many of her constituents still groggy over the weekend time change, Utah Congresswoman Celeste Maloy is the latest public official to introduce legislation to make Daylight Saving Time a permanent fixture.

READ: Why do we have daylight saving time?

The country observed its annual "spring forward" tradition at 2 a.m. Sunday, advancing clocks ahead an hour to observe Daylight Saving Time until it ends the first Sunday of November.

On Monday, Rep. Maloy joined a chorus of politicians looking to make a change to the change by introducing the Daylight Act.

Watch below as experts explain concerns over moving clocks forward:

Many concerned over daylight savings time and its effects

“Americans are tired of springing forward and losing sleep and falling back and losing sunlight," said Maloy in a statement. "Dozens of states, including Utah, have already passed laws to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. The federal government needs to get out of the way and allow them to make that choice instead of mandating the needless practice of changing our clocks twice a year.”

Maloy is not the first to bring forward legislation to permanently enforce either Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time. Last year, Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott reintroduced their Sunshine Protection Act to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, although it has yet to make it to the desk of President Joe Biden.

While dozens of states, including Utah in 2020, have passed laws to make Daylight Saving Time a permanent fixture, they cannot be enacted until Congress repeals the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

In a release Monday, Maloy claimed that making Daylight Saving Time permanent would reduce crime, energy bills, health risks and vehicle crashes, while increase economic activity.