Will we say goodbye to daylight saving time in 2025? -Deseret News

It's almost time to turn our clocks back an hour. Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 3, 2024. Will this be the last time we turn back our clocks?

Currently, Daylight Saving Time is still federally mandated by the US government. Several US states have passed bills aimed at implementing year-round daylight saving time, but federal action is needed to make changes possible, according to USA Today.

Until the Uniform Time Act is repealed or a new federal law is passed, expect to change your clocks again in 2025.

Here's a look at the history of daylight saving time and the chances of it becoming permanent.

Why do we have summer time?

Contrary to popular belief, daylight saving time actually has nothing to do with farmers.

According to The New York Times, Benjamin Franklin is widely credited with conceptualizing the idea in the 18th century. Franklin believed that in Paris he was wasting the first hours of daylight in bed and that an earlier start to the morning would save candle consumption at night.

He suggested that the French fire their cannons earlier to make better use of the daylight hours.

Daylight saving time was first implemented in the United States in March 1916 to save fuel as the country entered World War I, TIME reported. However, the noticeable benefits of the time change had little to do with energy savings.

“During the summer season, golf ball sales skyrocket…Baseball is also a big fan of the early season because there is no artificial lighting in the parks. Therefore, to get schoolchildren and workers to attend ball games during longer daylight hours, they have a later start time,” says Michael Downing, author of “Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time,” per TIME.

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, farmers opposed and protested against daylight saving time. Farmers rise before the sun all year round, and the time on the clock has no influence on when they milk cows, collect eggs and harvest crops.

The time difference made it difficult for farmers to get their crops to the market on time. Due to farmers' opposition, daylight saving time was repealed.

Daylight saving time was reinstated during World War II, but New York City and other areas decided not to observe the so-called “war time,” according to TIME. Confusion followed.

There were “cities that observe daylight saving time, surrounded by rural areas that don't, and no one can tell what time it is anywhere,” Downing said.

The confusion led President Lyndon B. Johnson to enact the Uniform Time Act in 1966, which established standard times across the country.

According to CNN, daylight saving time made a brief comeback in the 1970s amid the energy crisis. The goal was to save fuel.

President Richard Nixon signed a law establishing year-round daylight saving time in January 1974, but that summer Congress voted to return to standard time, the New York Times reported in 1974.

In 1986, the U.S. returned to daylight saving time for seven months each year, according to TIME. Then in 2005, daylight saving time was extended to eight months of the year, and it has remained that way ever since.

Are there any states that are eliminating daylight saving time?

Hawaii and Arizona do not observe daylight saving time, although the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona observes daylight saving time, according to Live Science. Daylight saving time is not observed in the US territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Northern Marina Islands and the US Virgin Islands.

The Uniform Time Act allows states to observe standard time year-round, but prohibits states from observing daylight saving time year-round. In recent years, 19 states have passed laws supporting year-round daylight saving time, but none of these bills or laws can take effect until the Uniform Time Act is repealed at the federal level, according to KGW, an NBC News affiliate.

Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Utah and Oregon have all passed bills related to daylight saving time changes, but rely on federal action to implement the changes.

In 2018, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio introduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which would move the entire country to daylight saving time year-round. The potential benefits of the bill cited by Senator Rubio include:

• Reduced risk of seasonal depression
• Fewer robberies
• Benefits for the agricultural world
• Reduced energy consumption

A version of this bill passed the U.S. Congress unanimously in 2022 but was never signed by the U.S. House of Representatives or President Joe Biden. Another version of the bill was introduced in 2023 but never made it past Congress, USA Today reported.

Unless a federal law is passed repealing the Uniform Time Act, Daylight Saving Time will begin again on Sunday, March 9, 2025.