It will soon be time to move forward an hour once again, as most states move to Daylight Saving Time on March 13.
New Jersey Representative Frank Palone Jr., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wonders whether the twice-a-year timing change is really needed.
That's what the subcommittee on consumer protection will address at a hearing on Wednesday. Residents of all two states, Arizona and Hawaii, turn their clocks forward every spring and back every fall. Those two states remain at Permanent Standard Time.
"There are a lot of people who think we should have a time either, that we shouldn't switch back and forth," said Palone, D-6 District. "The purpose of the hearing is to see if the idea of switching back and forth is obsolete."
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., & Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. A bipartisan bill in both houses of Congress, introduced by , would make daylight saving time permanent throughout the year. This would require Congress to amend the Uniform Time Act of 1966.
One of the bill's co-sponsors was the U.S. Sen. Patrick is Tommy, R-Pa.
"Instead of 'coming back' to the old and silly practice of changing clocks twice a year, we should make Daylight Saving Time permanent and stop replacing our clocks for good," Tommy tweeted.
Rather than "fall back" into the antiquated & silly practice of changing the clocks twice a year, we should make Daylight Savings Time permanent and stop changing our clocks for good.
— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) November 7, 2021
I joined a bill with my colleagues to put America on schedule by switching permanently to DST.
There is an ongoing debate about the benefits of moving to permanent daylight saving time.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees time laws, states that daylight saving time saves energy, saves lives, prevents traffic injuries and reduces crime.
But a study by the Congressional Research Service said that earlier studies by the Departments of Transportation and Energy found any effects were minimal.
And while businesses, such as the National Retail Federation, support additional daylight shopping hours, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine will phase out daylight hours altogether in favor of year-round standard time.
Dr. M. Adil Rishi, a pulmonology, sleep medicine and critical care specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, said, "Permanent, year-round standard time is the best option to most closely match our circadian sleep-wake cycles. Is." , "Daylight saving time results in more darkness in the morning and more light in the evening, disrupting the body's natural rhythm."
There is also talk of splitting the difference, advancing the clocks 30 minutes and keeping them there.
Believing that the federal government makes changes to the law, the enthusiasm in a growing number of states to vote for year-round daylight saving time hasn't waned.
According to the National Convention of State Legislatures, at least 18 states, including Delaware, have taken such action.
Delaware's law is contingent upon its neighbors, including New Jersey, following suit. State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, has introduced legislation to keep the Garden State on Daylight Saving Time throughout the year.
This congressional concern about time changes was also the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, when people stayed home instead of going to work or school, and weren't eager to turn their clocks back and forth, Pallone said.
"During COVID, people were at home, the economy changed, children were not in school," he said. "It has come to the fore a lot because of the health emergency."