The US House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 48-1 on Thursday to advance theSunshine Protection Actto the full House, bringing the country closer than ever to making daylight saving time (DST) permanent and ending the twice-yearly clock change for more than 300 million Americans.

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), who hasintroduced the billevery Congress since 2018, called it 'one step closer to ending the outdated and unpopular practice of changing our clocks twice a year.' The legislation was folded into theMotor Vehicle Modernization Act(H.R. 7389), a broader transportation funding package that cleared the committee in a single vote.

The bill has 32 bipartisan cosponsors in the House. A Senate companion from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) carries 18 cosponsors.

But the near-unanimous tally hid a sharp disagreement over health. Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA) pushed back during the markup, citing research from theAmerican Academy of Sleep Medicine(AASM) that argues permanent standard time is actually the safer choice for the human body.

The AASM's position, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine and backed by more than 20 medical and civic organisations, warns that permanent DST would push the body's internal clock out of alignment with the natural light-dark cycle. The group has linked the annual spring-forward shift to increased risks of heart attacks, strokes, mood disorders, and traffic accidents.

The academy's stance is blunt. Year-round standard time, it says, is the option that best matches human circadian biology, and permanent DST could worsen the very health problems the clock change already causes.

For parents, the practical concern is hard to ignore. Under permanent DST, winter sunrises across much of the US would not happen until after 8:00am. In northern states like Michigan and Indiana, the sun wouldn't rise until after 9:00am, meaning children would head to school in total darkness for months.

The US tested this once before. In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed permanent DST into law during the oil crisis. Public support collapsed within months as parents watched their children walk to bus stops in the dark. Congress scaled back the policy before the end of that year.

Not every lawmaker agrees that a full hour forward is the answer. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL)introduced the Daylight Act of 2026earlier this year, which would permanently set US clocks 30 minutes ahead of standard time instead of a full hour, a compromise between the two camps.

The AASM has acknowledged this approach would be 'less harmful' than a full hour of permanent DST, though it still wouldn't fully protect circadian health. No action has been taken on Steube's bill since it was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Source: International Business Times UK