The Sunshine Protection Act would make Daylight Saving Time permanent and end the switch twice a year, but the bill is running into resistance in the Senate after the House passed its version last week. John Thune said there are passionate views on both sides and that some senators are willing to really slow things down.
House passes Daylight Saving bill, sending the Sunshine Protection Act to the Senate, where the next step is whether lawmakers even move it forward for debate. The answer will determine whether the proposal advances or stalls before any vote on permanent clock changes.
John Thune and the Senate
Thune said, "That is an issue in which there are passionate views on both sides" and added, "So we'll see." He also said, "I mean, the House having acted on it now, we'll see what the interest level is in the Senate. But I know that there are people who are willing to really slow things down over that issue."
That creates a clear procedural hurdle. If senators try to slow the bill, they can delay consideration before the legislation reaches a final vote, which means House passage does not by itself move the Sunshine Protection Act into law.
Tom Cotton and opposition
Tom Cotton said last year that he would "always oppose" efforts for permanent Daylight Saving. A source in his orbit said he is far from the only one who objects to the bill and that the measure acts like a grandfather clause, requiring states to have already passed an observance of permanent standard time before the Sunshine Protection Act becomes law.
Hawaii and Arizona are the only two states that, by their own laws, observe permanent standard time, and no states observe a permanent Daylight Saving Time. That leaves the bill tied to a narrow set of existing state rules, even as the House moved it ahead last week.
1970s daylight saving history
Congress enacted year-round Daylight Saving Time in the 1970s and repealed it about a year later after parents whose children had to wait in the dark for the school bus rapidly soured on the change. The current debate is divided along northern-state and southern-state lines, giving the Senate a built-in reason to drag out the process if support stays split.
President Donald Trump wants Congress to pass the bill, but one of his allies, Cotton, is one of its most vocal opponents. That split leaves the Senate with a simple choice: move the Sunshine Protection Act ahead, or let it sit while interest in the bill fades.
