Daylight Saving Time isn’t going away any time soon

Every year, on the second Sunday in March at 2 a.m., clocks are set forward by one hour, to begin nearly eight months of Daylight Saving Time. Arizona is the only state in the continental U.S. that bucks the time switch ritual, staying on Mountain Standard Time year-round. 

This time-adjustment is discussed and debated every year. Numerous solutions have been proposed, including remaining on Standard Time year-round (which every state is eligible to do by the Uniform Time Act of 1966); sticking with Daylight Saving Time year-round (which states can do only with changes to federal law); or split the difference and adopt a year-round 30-minute shift (also requiring federal changes, which the recently proposed Daylight Saving Act of 2026 offers).

People are split on changing their time twice per year. Historically, people have preferred Daylight Saving Time, but many are now more ambivalent. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 only provided Standard Time as the default; if it had made Daylight Saving Time the default, our nation would likely be on Daylight Saving Time year-round, given the number of states with enacted or pending legislation making Daylight Saving Time permanent, subject to a variety of conditions.

Sleep researchers suggest that people would be healthier without bi-annual time changes, given their impact on circadian rhythms. Many sleep experts also endorse permanent Standard Time.

Many people forget that year-round Daylight Saving Time was implemented in........

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