Why We Must Adopt Permanent Daily Savings Time

by Elliott J. Schuchardt

Every spring and autumn, tens of millions of Americans participate in a jarring, mandated collective ritual: they alter their clocks by sixty minutes, disrupting the fundamental rhythm of daily life. While the phrase "spring forward, fall back" sounds like an innocuous seasonal reminder, the reality of Daylight Saving Time (DST) is far more grim. What began as a well-intentioned wartime experiment to conserve energy has transformed into a modern bureaucratic relic that disrupts human biology, compromises psychological well-being, and inflicts measurable economic and physical harm. It is time to abandon this artificial manipulation of time and establish a permanent, unchanging clock.

A History Rooted in Wartime Crisis

To understand why the United States remains shackled to this biannual time shift, one must look to its history. The concept of shifting daylight hours was famously amused by Benjamin Franklin in a satirical 1784 essay, but it was not seriously implemented until World War I. In 1916, the German Empire first enacted the time change to conserve coal and fuel for the war effort. The United States quickly followed suit in 1918, though the law proved so unpopular with farmers and rural communities that it was quickly repealed at the war's conclusion.

The practice resurfaced during World War II under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who instituted year-round "War Time." Following that conflict, the nation devolved into a chaotic patchwork of time zones, with individual towns and states deciding when—or if—to shift their clocks. Seeking to establish nationwide uniformity, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act of 1966 under President Lyndon B. Johnson. This legislation standardized the dates for entering and exiting DST, establishing the framework we use today. However, a key caveat remained: the law allowed states to opt out of daylight saving time entirely to remain on permanent Standard Time—a path chosen by Hawaii and Arizona—but explicitly prohibited states from adopting permanent Daylight Saving Time on their own.

The Biological and Psychological Toll

While proponents historically argued that DST aligns waking hours with natural sunlight to save energy, modern research indicates that the energy savings are negligible, while the human cost is severe. The primary culprit is the disruption of our internal clock, or circadian rhythm, which relies heavily on morning sunlight to synchronize our bodies.

When the nation "springs forward" in March, the shift essentially subjects the population to an institutionalized case of collective jet lag. According to medical studies published by the National Institutes of Health (PMC), this sudden loss of sleep triggers sharp, acute health crises. The Monday immediately following the spring time change sees a documented spike in cardiovascular emergencies, including a measurable increase in heart attacks and strokes. The sleep deprivation also spills onto the roadways, where data shows a distinct surge in fatal traffic collisions during "Sleepy Monday" and the week that follows.

The long-term effects of remaining on DST for eight months out of the year are equally concerning. By artificially moving daylight to the evening, we delay our exposure to morning sun and prolong our exposure to evening light. This delay makes it more difficult to wake up naturally and harder to fall asleep at night, cultivating a state of chronic sleep desynchronization. Psychologically, this persistent misalignment is closely tied to increased rates of cognitive decline, mood disorders, and seasonal depression. Human biology is hardwired to follow the solar clock, and forcing our bodies to adhere to an artificial social clock actively degrades public health.

The Commercial Battlefield: Who Benefits from the Sun?

While public health advocates focus on the biological toll, the political reality of the clock change is driven heavily by economics. The twice-yearly time change survives in large part because of aggressive corporate lobbying from industries that make millions of dollars from extra evening sunlight.

The retail sector operates on a simple psychological principle: people do not like to shop in the dark. When workers leave their offices at 5:00 p.m. to pitch-black skies, their immediate instinct is to commute straight home. By shifting sunlight to the evening, DST acts as an artificial economic stimulant. The National Automobile Dealers Association historically lobbied to extend DST because evening light dramatically increases outdoor test drives and foot traffic on dealership lots.

Other leisure industries experience similar windfalls. The golf industry testified to Congress that an extra month of DST yields an additional $200 million in greens fees and equipment sales, while the barbecue industry links extra evening sun to over $100 million in additional grill and charcoal purchases. Data from the JP Morgan Chase Institute confirms this financial reality, showing that when the nation "falls back" to Standard Time in the autumn, consumer spending drops by a stark 3.5% to 4.8% almost overnight.

Recent Legislative Efforts and Hurdles

The growing public dissatisfaction with clock-switching has prompted notable legislative action. A vast majority of Americans express a desire to stop changing the clocks twice a year. This momentum culminated in the federal Sunshine Protection Act, a bill introduced by Representative Vern Buchanan and Senator Marco Rubio that aims to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide.

The bill has seen significant progress in the U.S. House of Representatives, securing a strong bipartisan majority vote of 308 to 117. President Donald Trump has been a vocal proponent of the effort, actively urging lawmakers to pass the bill and complaining when it stalls. Despite this executive and lower-chamber momentum, the legislation faces a steep uphill battle in the U.S. Senate.

What is Required for Change?

To successfully eliminate the biannual time change, an act of Congress is mandatory. Under current federal law, states possess the autonomy to opt out of DST and adopt year-round Standard Time. Over 19 states have passed state-level "trigger laws"—including Tennessee, which passed a law in 2019 under Governor Bill Lee—stating they will immediately adopt permanent Daylight Saving Time the moment it is federally legal.

However, because the Uniform Time Act of 1966 explicitly bans year-round DST, these state laws are completely dormant until Congress amends federal law. For a permanent shift to occur, the Sunshine Protection Act (or a similar compromise bill) must successfully pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law by the President.

Why States Like Tennessee Refuse Permanent Standard Time

A common point of confusion is why frustrated states do not simply bypass the federal government by exercising their legal right to opt into permanent Standard Time. Tennessee provides a perfect case study for this political deadlock. While State Representative Chris Todd introduced House Bill 1300 to abandon DST entirely and lock the state into Standard Time by 2027, such efforts routinely stall due to immense public and economic resistance.

The resistance boils down to the preference for evening daylight. If Tennessee were to adopt permanent Standard Time, it would mean accepting the winter clock all year long. Consequently, during the height of summer, the sun would rise as early as 4:30 a.m. in Eastern Tennessee, while setting before 8:00 p.m. Conversely, in the deep winter, darkness would fall upon parts of the state as early as 3:30 p.m. or 4:30 p.m.

Lawmakers and business owners argue that losing late-afternoon sunlight destroys after-school youth sports, harms outdoor recreation industries, and drives down retail consumer spending. Because constituents overwhelmingly prefer long summer nights, Tennessee refuses to accept the "darker evening" reality of permanent Standard Time. Instead, the state chooses to endure the frustrating biannual clock changes as a temporary compromise while waiting for federal permission to lock the clocks into permanent Daylight Saving Time.

Conclusion

The practice of changing our clocks twice a year is a dangerous, obsolete tradition born out of wartime rationing that has no place in the modern world. It disrupts our minds, strains our bodies, and creates preventable safety hazards on our roads and in our workplaces. Whether the ultimate solution is permanent Standard Time or permanent Daylight Saving Time, the overarching consensus is clear: we must stop changing the clocks. It is time for Congress to act, break the legislative deadlock, and permanently retire this unnecessary disruption to our collective health.

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Elliott J. Schuchardt is a politician and political activist located in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is the author of America's Achilles Heel: How to Protect Your Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency. Schuchardt was a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly in 2026.