ASHEVILLE - Despite legislative efforts otherwise, this weekend Western North Carolina will see its clocks turned back, like always. Or, at least, as it has for decades.
The time shift, also referred to as “spring forward, fall back,” will happen at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 5. For most people, this means setting clocks back before going to bed Saturday night. For the majority of states, including North Carolina, autumn ushers in a return to standard time, with clocks set back one hour.
In March, daylight saving time willbegin againfor 2024, when clocks are set forward and people lose an hour of sleep.
Will NC make daylight saving time year-round?
Efforts to stop the twice-yearly clock switching, which some call "disruptive," are nothing new.
State legislatures have considered at least 450 bills and resolutions in recent years to establish year-round daylight saving time as soon as federal law allows it,according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Inherent in the debate is whether to enact either permanent standard time or permanent daylight time. The federal Uniform Time Act allows the former option but not the latter.
The U.S. Senateunanimously approved a bill called the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022. Introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, the act would permanently extend daylight saving time for the entire year. However, the measure has not yet been signed into law by President Joe Biden as it hasn't yet been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, where it was "held at the desk," according to USA TODAY reporting.
In the last five years, 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions to provide for year-round daylight saving time, if Congress were to allow such a change, and in some cases, if surrounding states enact the same legislation, according to NCSL. Because federal law does not currently allow full-time DST, Congress would have to act before states could adopt changes.
N.C. House Bill 326, which would adopt DST year round, was introduced in March in the General Assembly. It passed the House in May, but stalled in the Senate.
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Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, said in September that it's not the first time the discussion has come to North Carolina's legislature.
"It’s sort of like the Olympics," he said. "Every few years someone brings up daylight savings time again.”
But most years, there's not too strong of a push. The most recent bill was a little bit different.
“It’s hard to know what the cause and the effect is," Cooper said, but it seemed to be gaining momentum. Unlike other years, when similar bills might be introduced but rarely get a hearing or vote, the 2023 proposed legislation passed the lower chamber "pretty easily."
In part, Cooper attributed it to Rep. Jason Saine, a Republican out of Lincoln County, among those who introduced the bill. With a powerful Republican as its primary sponsor, it was no surprise the bill got more attention.
Though it didn't make it through both chambers this year, he expects it will come up again, particularly as other states also push similar legislation.
“This idea is having a moment," Cooper said. "It’s being discussed at the federal level, it’s being discussed by various states. I certainly can’t predict what is going to happen with it, but I don’t think it’s going to go away anytime soon.”
When did federal time changes start?
The Standard Time Act of 1918 was the first law to implement standard and daylight saving times at the federal level.
"Federal oversight of time zones began in 1918 with the enactment of the Standard Time Act, which vested the Interstate Commerce Commission with the responsibility for establishing boundaries between the standard time zones in the U.S.," according to The U.S. Department of Transportation. "This responsibility was transferred from the Interstate Commerce Commission to DOT when Congress created DOT in 1966."
More:Daylight savings ends in November. Why is it still around?
Why?
The U.S. Department of Transportation oversees the observance of daylight saving time as well as U.S. time zones, according totransportation.gov. The DOT said energy reduction and reduced crime are reasons for having both standard and daylight saving time.
When was daylight saving time 2023?
This year's daylight saving time began at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 12.
Which states don't observe daylight saving time?
Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii do not recognize daylight saving time. Neither do Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with asubscriptionto the Citizen Times
