U.S. Senate considers Sunshine Protection Act for permanent DST

The U.S. Senate faces a ticking clock to vote on the Sunshine Protection Act, a bipartisan measure that would make daylight saving time permanent across the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill earlier in the summer with support from President Donald Trump, but the upper chamber has yet to schedule a vote before an upcoming congressional recess starting Oct. 5, 2026.

The 1973 Permanent Daylight Saving Time Experiment and Repeal

America previously tested permanent daylight saving time over fifty years ago under President Richard Nixon, who signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy and Conservation Act into law in 1973. The two-year experiment aimed to combat a 1972 fuel crisis by reducing national energy consumption. Public sentiment reached 79% support before the law took effect, but backing collapsed rapidly after a tragic spike in early morning traffic accidents involving school children.

A total of eight children in Florida died in early morning traffic crashes within the first two weeks of the law’s implementation. State records showed that only two early morning fatalities had occurred during the same period in 1973 prior to the change. Among the dead were an anonymous 14-year-old boy from Jacksonville, 16-year-old Charles Van Iderstyne hailing from Boca Raton, 13-year-old Robert T. Allen based in Casselberry, six-year-old Richard Toudt located in Tampa, and a 17-year-old female in Gulf County. By October 1973, Congress voted to repeal the measure and return to standard time during the winter months.

State Laws and the 2026 Fall Back Schedule

Across the country, 19 states have enacted legislation to make daylight saving time permanent, though those state laws cannot take effect until Congress grants federal authorization. Pennsylvania has not passed any laws to observe permanent daylight saving time, and currently observes daylight saving time alongside most other states. Hawaii, most of Arizona outside the Navajo Nation, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not observe daylight saving time.

If Congress fails to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, standard time will return at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. Clocks will move backward by one hour to 1 a.m., ending daylight saving time for the remainder of the fall and winter. In Pittsburgh, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that the time change will shift sunrise from 7:49 a.m. on Oct. 31 to 6:50 a.m. on Nov. 1, while sunset will move from 6:18 p.m. to 5:17 p.m.