Florida lawmakers just passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would extend Daylight Saving Time to all year long.
The bill now requires a signature from Gov. Rick Scott, and an act of Congress.
Currently, Hawaii and parts of Arizona are exempt from time changes.
Daylight Saving Time starts at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 11, so be sure to set your clocks forward this weekend. And if you live in Florida, you might not ever have to set your clocks back again. CNN reports that Florida lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would keep Daylight Saving Time throughout the year.
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According to the Tampa Bay Times, state senator Greg Steube came up with the idea when he walked into his local barbershop right after the clocks changed last fall. “One of the barbers had young children and it had such a negative impact every time they set their clocks back [that they had trouble] getting their kids up for school,” he told the Senate Community Affairs Committee meeting. He said since introducing the idea, he’s heard from people across the state that the change could boost tourism dollars and save money, too.
“Today, one of the biggest cons [of daylight saving time] remains sunrise as late as 8:30 a.m. in parts of Florida, which means it would be pitch dark for school kids and early commuters,” author David Prerau, author of Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time, told the Miami Herald. “People do not like dark mornings and that’s the main reason daylight saving time has not been adopted year-round.”
But of course, there are drawbacks to going to Daylight Saving Time year-round. It would mean that Florida would be out of sync with the rest of the East Coast, which would change everything from what time to watch certain TV shows to how people conduct business.
That said, the change is definitely not a sure thing yet for Florida. The bill will have to be signed by Governor Rick Scott, and then it will take an act of Congress to approve. Currently, Hawaii and most of Arizona don’t abide by the Daylight Saving Time rules.
