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Marco Rubio’s Bill Passes Unanimously In The Senate

Note: This article may contain commentary or the author's opinion.

Yesterday, March 15, 2022, the United States Senate unanimously approved a bill for ending the bi-annual changing of the clocks. If Congress passes the bill, it will be sent over to President Biden to be signed.

The Sunshine Protection Act was introduced by Marco Rubio (R-FL).

To further explain why we started the time-change in the first place, the Independence writes:

Why do we do this?

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the US and a noted polymath, came up with the idea of resetting clocks during the summer in order to save energy. The practice became widespread on 21 March 1918 as a way to reduce the number of hours homes needed to use lighting and electricity.

It became a federal law in the US in 1966, but some states opted out of observing DST.

Arizona, American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands do not lose an hour during their days – except for protected lands of the Navajo Native American tribe in Arizona, who do observe the time change.

The time change has become a subject of debate in recent years as many have suggested we no longer have need for the switch, and that keeping the time from changing would result in longer days outside and a decrease in seasonal depression.

“I know this is not the most important issue confronting America, but it’s one of those issues where there’s a lot of agreement,” Senator Marco Rubio, one of the bill’s sponsors, said. “If we can get this passed, we don’t have to do this stupidity anymore.

“Pardon the pun, but this is an idea whose time has come.”

It seems that everybody is on board. Sen. Rick Scott tweeted his support for the bill:

Reuters reported:

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The White House has not said whether Biden supports it. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to say if she supports the measure but said she was reviewing it closely.

Senator Marco Rubio, one of the bill’s sponsors, said supporters agreed the change would not take place until November 2023 after input from airlines and broadcasters.

The change would help enable children to play outdoors later and reduce seasonal depression, according to supporters.

I remember growing up that there was a family who forgot to turn their clocks back. They showed up to church an hour early. Instead of driving all the way home, they had a family service until everyone else from the congregation showed up. These days, everyone has smartphones that switch time automatically, so I don’t think there would be as many issues as in the past. Anolog clocks on the walls, microwave oven and suchlike needed to always be changed manually.

Setting up calls and meetings with business or family internationly will definitely become easier if  the Sunshine Protection Act passes. Trying to figure out what time to call each other is very confusing when have to deal with one country’s time changing by one hour and the other country’s does not.