Senate debates whether it's time to stop changing the clock twice a year

WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- For years, Congress has tried to put a lock on the clock, get rid of seasonal time change and decide whether to make daylight saving time or standard time permanent. A Senate Committee for Science, Commerce and Transportation hearing Thursday didn't decide the issue.

Although many Republican and Democratic senators and witnesses agreed that time changes are unnecessary, the could not agreed whether to stick with standard time or daylight saving time.

"Many countries like Mexico, Russia and Turkey have already taken steps to move away from changing clocks twice a year. Hawaii and Arizona have opted out of the practice and other countries have either abolished it or are in the process of doing so," committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in opening remarks.

Jose Maria Martìn Olalla and Jorge Perez Mira, physicists at the University of Seville and at the University of Santiago de Compostela, respectively, watched the hearing and expressed skepticism about whether getting rid of the seasonal time change would work in the United States.

"If you want to lock the clock because the seasonal time change is annoying, the question becomes: which clock are you going to choose?" professor Olalla told Medill News Service.

"The seasonal time change is a compromise between the positions of who would like to have [daylight saving time] and the positions of who would like to stay on standard time. The prize of that compromise is changing the clock twice a year."

Scott Yates, founder of the Lock the Clock Movement, recommended the committee to lock the clock permanently on daylight saving time by 2027 and leave to the states the decision whether to remain or opt out of daylight saving time.

"This is fundamentally a state's decision", Yates said. "For Congress to force Hoosiers to commute and send children to school in winter darkness, only to accommodate barbecues in New York, feels ... rude."

But Olalla and Mira opposed giving states the option.

"Imagine Florida being in daylight saving time and Georgia deciding to stay in standard time. It's going to be a mess," he said.

On the opposite side, Karin Johnson, a professor of neurology at University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine, told the committee that if the clock needs to be stopped "Standard time is the only viable solution to end seasonal clock change" because it promotes "physical health, mental health and safety."

The last attempt to pass such a change, in 2022, stalled in the House. Now Congress has three bills, two under the umbrella of the Sunshine Protection Act, introduced by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and a third introduced by Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah.

Scott and Buchanan's bills would mandate the change to daylight saving time, while Maloy's bill would leave the issue to the states. Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states that have locked the clock.

"When you think about this issue, no one ever speaks about the crucial role of latitude," said Mira, who was part of the Spanish commission that addressed the issue in the E.U.

"Countries and states at the two extremes do not need to have a seasonal clock, because the difference between when the sun rises and sets is very low or very high.

"Think about Florida for example, or in Europe, think about Finland. Finland tried to introduce the same legislation in the European Union, but it did not suit every country and got rejected."

Since it's hard to get unanimity, Olalla and Mira suggested that the status quo could be the better option for the United States.

"Seasonal time change is like a vaccine. It will hurt a little to adapt to the new light, needing to adapt your rhythm, but it's for the best in the coming months," Mira said.

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