Bill To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent Now Stalled In Congress, Here’s Why

Healthcare Bill To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent Now Stalled In Congress, Here’s Why Bruce Y. Lee Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I am a writer, journalist, professor, systems modeler, computational and digital health expert, avocado-eater, and entrepreneur, not always in that order.

Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Nov 5, 2022, 04:10pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Get ready for the end of Daylight Savings Time (DST) for 2022 this Sunday, November 6 at 2 am, when . .

. [+] your clocks will “Fall back” one hour. (Photo: Getty) getty Surprise, surprise.

Another bill remains stalled in Congress. This time it’s the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 , a bill that would make daylight saving time (DST) the new, permanent time all-year-round. This would help you and your body avoid the clock switcheroo that happens throughout most of the U.

S. twice a year, such as the lose-an-hour that took place this past March and the gain-an-hour that’s scheduled to occur tomorrow, November 6, at 2 am. That’s assuming that the U.

S. doesn’t implode into a partisan ball of fire before then. Such an act may seem as non-partisan as it can get, with neither the Democrats nor the Republican seeing compelling reason to quash such a bill.

But the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 may now be shining a light on another type of ongoing partisan-divide: Morning Larks versus Night Owls. After all, removing time switches is probably not the most controversial aspect of this Act. Chances are most people aren’t saying, “I really like clock changes and missing all my appointments such as that manicure for my cat that following Sunday and Monday.

” They probably aren’t asserting, “It’s great messing with my sleep after each switch and the confusion that results immediately afterwards. Why travel, when you can experience jet lag in the comfort of your own home? It adds to the mystery of life. ” Indeed, a YouGov poll , conducted March 16 through 20, revealed that 64% of Americans surveyed in the U.

S. favored getting rid of the twice-annual clock change. There was a little more differing opinion when it came to choosing the new permanent time: DST versus the current Standard Time.

The majority (53%) favored making DST, the clock settings that have typically started in March and ended in November each year, permanent. Compare this to the 32% who favored making Standard Time, the clock settings currently maintain during the late Fall and Winter months, permanent. The results fell somewhat along Morning Lark versus Night Owl lines, also known as the wrong versus right lines from a Night Owl perspective.

Of the adults who start their weekdays before a WTF 6 a. m, 38% opted for making Standard Time permanent, compared to 25% of those who start their weekdays after 8 a. m.

Morning Larks, otherwise known as Morning People or people whose goal it is to make the lives of Night Owls miserable, are people who favor waking up early and going to sleep early. Night Owls, otherwise known as Night People or Cool People, by contrast are folks who tend to wake up and go to sleep later, otherwise known as not ridiculously early hours. Those in certain professions such as medical doctors, fitness instructors, Starbucks baristas, and refuse and recyclable materials collectors tend to have earlier starts whereas others such as those in the arts, entertainment, and research tend to have later starts.

Of course, there is variability in every profession and one size does not fit all. This Act, which passed the U. S.

Senate on March 15, 2022, about a year after it was introduced on March 9, 2021, would make DST, yeah you know me, permanent. Should the Act pass and be signed into law by the U. S.

President, the U. S. would no longer have to do the mind and body disrupting “Spring forward, Fall back” thing each year from November 5, 2023, onwards.

Seems pretty straight “forward,” right? Well, the words “straight forward” and “Congress” may go together about as well as the words “full bladder” and “roller coaster. ” Instead of “springing forward” on this bill, the House of Representatives appears to be “falling back” on old habits. The bill has languished in the so-called lower Chamber of Congress for over seven months now, consumed by a Nutella waterfall of lobbying efforts.

MORE FOR YOU $100M Magic: Why Bruno Mars And Other Stars Are Ditching Their Managers Twitter Launches $8-A-Month Blue Check Days After Musk’s Promise A New Look At How Vertical Farming Can Help Decouple Food From Nature Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) was the Sponsor of the Sunshine Protection Act, which had 18 . . .

[+] co-sponsors in the Senate consisting of 10 Republicans and eight Democrats. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Getty Images There was hope that the bill would go swiftly through the House after it got hefty bipartisan support in the Senate. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) was the Sponsor of this Act, which had 18 co-sponsors in the Senate consisting of 10 Republicans and eight Democrats.

The bill had passed via unanimous consent in the Senate, which these days doesn’t happen often, unless the need for the bill is obvious such as a bill declaring that chocolate is a good thing to exist or that space lasers haven’t been causing the California wildfires. (OK, may be the second wouldn’t have gotten unanimous support in the House. ) So the Senate decision suggested that the bill would not hit roadblocks in the House.

But then reality hit. And reality can often bite, as the title of that 1994 rom-com starring Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, and Ben Stiller suggested. Some House members began questioning the procedures in the Senate and urging that more discussion is needed before a decision can be made.

Whenever Congress folks try to put the brakes on a legislative process, you figure that some lobbyist somewhere has gotten to them. In this case, the lobbyists could very well be coming from one particular party: Morning Larks. After passing through the Senate by unanimous consent in March, the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 .

. . [+] has stalled in the U.

S. House of Representatives. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Getty Images Yes, Morning Larks are the ones who have showered our society with Early Morning propaganda such as quotes that say “the early bird gets the worm” when you are wondering who the heck wants worms? And how about their pushing Ben Franklin’s quote that says “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” rather than Banksy’s quote that warns, “People who get up early in the morning cause war, death and famine.

” There’s no real clear scientific evidence whether being a Morning Lark or Night Owl is better. It’s sort of like the chocolate versus cheese, Star Wars versus Star Trek, and Britney versus Christina debate. It really seems more of a personal makeup and preference thing.

Morning Larks may argue that the morning is quiet and peaceful, allowing you to collect your thoughts before the bleep of the day begins. However, this neglects the fact that the nighttime can be quiet and peaceful too, allowing you to count all the bleep that’s happened to your throughout the day. Plus, compared to the full lineup of late night TV, there’s not much to watch on TV in the early morning unless you want to watch four straight episodes of Charmed on TNT.

Early morning TV typically consists of “Charmed” and infomercials. (Photo By Getty Images) Getty Images Making DST permanent would help those interested in having more daylight in the 4:30 pm to 9 pm range throughout the year. This would mean that folks would be less likely to walk out of work or school at the end of the day into the pitch dark.

Now one could argue that more daylight during the 4:30 pm to 9 pm time range would benefit everyone since practically everyone is awake during this time, aside from those who call it a day after watching the People’s Court on TV at 5 pm. Having DST year round would extend the hours of sunshine that most businesses would operate under, presuming that most businesses stay open in the 9 am to 9 pm time frame. By contrast, making Standard Time permanent would add more daylight to the early morning, the 5:30 am to 8 am hours.

This in turn would benefit those people, professions, religious groups, and organizations who operate more in such an early morning time frame. Rumor has it that some folks are already awake, active, and get work done during these hours but that has not been fully confirmed since it would require being awake during those hours. So is this mainly a Morning Lark versus Night Owl debate? Well, some seem to be waving around the “S” word to support one side, claiming that scientific evidence backs maintaining Standard Time throughout the year.

For example, a letter from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine (SBSM), and Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR) claimed that “There is strong scientific and medical evidence that supports permanent Standard Time. Evidence for keeping Standard Time also includes the rapid repeal of permanent DST in the past due to public safety concerns during dark morning commutes necessitated by DST.

” This argument, of course, assumes that most people are waking up and commuting early in the morning as medical doctors often do. In the medical profession, six a. m.

meetings are not unusual, whereas for many other people the only thing that you may be meeting at that time is the toilet bowl. Moreover, this joint AASM-SBSM-SRBR statement focused simply on the sunrise portion of the day and overlooked the other end of the day: sunset. What about what may happen with dark evening (or even late afternoon) commutes or kids being out in the dark soon after school ends? Too much early morning sunshine can disrupt the sleep of Night Owls.

(Photo: Getty) getty The statement also overlooked scientific evidence that has supported the maintenance of DST throughout the year. For example, a meta-analysis conducted by Douglas Coate, PhD, and Sara Markowitz, PhD, based at Rutgers University at the time and published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention estimated that “a full year daylight saving time would reduce pedestrian fatalities by 171 per year, or by 13% of all pedestrian fatalities in the 5:00–10. 00 a.

m. and in the 4:00–9:00 p. m.

time periods. Motor vehicle occupant fatalities would be reduced by 195 per year, or 3%, during the same time periods. ” The AASM-SBSM-SRBR statement also mentioned “the rapid repeal of permanent DST in the past,” as evidence.

Yet, how can a brief attempt around 50 years ago to institute DTS year-round serve as convincing evidence. Anything rapidly repealed by definition didn’t last long enough to see what would have happened had people had enough time to get used to the change. Any change from the current situation is likely to affect people’s moods and potentially cause accidents in the short term.

Moreover, as a reminder, the U. S. is not the only country on Earth.

Lots of different countries regularly experience different ranges of daylight hours from the U. S. yet seem to be doing fine.

Therefore, stating that “There is strong scientific and medical evidence that supports” any particular time standard seems a bit over the top. It’s a little surprising that the AASM would take such a strong stance on this issue, rather than acknowledging the heterogeneity and diversity that exists among the population. While there are general principles to follow, such as getting sleep is a good thing and having a yak in your bed may interfere with your sleep, the science doesn’t necessarily support imposing the same range of sleeping and waking hours for everyone.

Yet, according to Dan Diamond writing for the Washington Post , the AASM has been pumping time, effort, and money into its lobbying for Standard Time efforts, spending around $130,000 in the third quarter of 2022. One has to wonder why such lobbying has become a priority for the AASM and whether this is anywhere close to being the biggest sleep issue that Americans face right now. One-size-fits-all rarely works when it comes to health issues.

Just like one diet, one type of physical activity, and one set of mental health approaches doesn’t work for everyone, one set of sleep hours probably doesn’t work for everyone. In the end, it’s not clear if there is really strong medical evidence for making DST permanent versus Standard Time permanent. The only thing that is clear is clock changes can disrupt sleep and lead to some health issues such as accidents and potentially bad health outcomes such as heart attacks while your body and mind adjust to the new time.

It’s essentially jet lag without the benefit of actually traveling to a new place. Ultimately, the DST versus Standard Time debate may be more an operational and logistics issue. The Department of Transportation will be conducting a study that won’t be ready until after December 31, 2023.

So for now, expect the House of Representatives to sleep on this bill. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website .

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