Can Sen. Rubio's daylight saving time bill save sunshine? It's gaining bipartisan support

Say a prayer for our biological clocks

(Credit: News 6 photographer James Gosselin)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite a Florida law that says the Sunshine State will observe permanent daylight saving time, Floridians joined the rest of the U.S. in turning back their clocks last week.

Florida isn't the only state seeking to hold onto the daylight. Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee recently signed a similar bill into law that would make DST standard time year-round and a similar bill died in a Mississippi state House committee in March.

Why are we still observing the time change? The holdup is with federal law.

For the second year, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill in the Senate that would keep Florida from being one hour ahead of the rest of the country and make daylight saving time permanent standard time for the U.S. If it becomes law, the Sunshine Protection Act would not impact states that currently do not observe DST.

[RELATED: Why and when the US started changing the clock | Daylight saving time is ruining your brain, study warns]

Seven senators from six states across party lines have co-sponsored the bill. In the House, the bill also has bipartisan support with lawmakers in five states. Six Florida representatives are among the cosponsors.

Where does the Sunshine Protection Act stand? Right now, the bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and awaiting a hearing, and in the Senate, it's been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

In March, Rubio wrote a letter to Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R- Miss., asking the committee to report the bill to the full Senate as soon as possible.

Wicker's own state recently tried to pass a similar bill to Florida's and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., recently joined the growing list of co-sponsors.

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If the bill passes both committees and goes onto a vote in the House and Senate, Rubio said President Trump said he would sign it into law.

"Well, it's my hope that Sunday, Nov. 3, will be the last time that we have to do this ridiculous changing of the clocks back and forth," Rubio said ahead of the time change. "It makes absolutely no sense. There's no justification for it. It has strong support in the House and in the Senate, the White House, the president said he would sign it. I hope we can get this bill passed because I just think it makes all the sense in the world, and this changing of the clocks back and forth makes no sense at all." 

Do you think daylight saving time should be the new standard? Vote in the poll below.


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