Lawmakers Want Daylight Saving Time Permanent

RALEIGH - N.C. Rep. Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, has introduced a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent in the Tar Heel State.

House Bill 307 asks Congress to allow North Carolina to use daylight time year-round. The state now switches its standard time twice each year. People set clocks forward by one hour to Eastern Daylight Time each spring, then turn clocks back by one hour to Eastern Standard Time in the fall.

Representatives John Szoka, R-Cumberland; Jon Hardister, R-Guilford; and David Willis, R-Union, are co-sponsors.

H.B. 307 arrives one day after the latest switch to DST. People throughout North Carolina lost an hour on Sunday morning as they set their clocks ahead. The change shifts daylight hours. Daylight lasts longer into the evening now, but it's darker later into the morning. The reverse happens in the fall, when North Carolina reverts to EST.

"Biannual clock shifts are an antiquated practice that was introduced during the World Wars to help manage energy consumption," Saine said.

"Today, in our modern economy, rather than saving energy, time shifts have been linked to numerous negative emotional and health effects including seasonal depression, cardiac issues, and stroke."

A bipartisan move in the U.S. Senate, introduced March 9, would eliminate the time shifts, too. The "Sunshine Protection Act of 2021" would make year-round DST the law, Bloomberg reports.